Israeli minister threatens to revoke filmmakers’ citizenship over Gaza film

Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar has said that he will move to revoke the citizenship of filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor after their documentary on Israel’s genocide in Gaza, NAZA, won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.

In an X post on Sunday, Zohar called the documentary “vile” and its win at the film festival “shocking”. He accused the filmmakers of harming the country “just to get applause from antisemites around the world”.

The minister said that Abraham and Szor’s actions “constitute treason against the state”.

“As culture minister, I will act immediately to revoke the Israeli citizenship of these despicable creators for treason against the state,” he wrote.

The 80-minute film documented Israel’s use of AI-powered systems to commit “calculated mass killings” of Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Venice Film Festival’s official synopsis. The documentary received a 25-minute standing ovation at its premiere during the film festival.

The film features testimonies from Israeli military and intelligence personnel who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Interviewees described an AI system called “Lavender”, used to monitor telecommunications between Palestinians in Gaza and determine targeted killings.

Abraham said he hoped his documentary would push Western governments to apply economic sanctions on Israel.