Israeli culture minister seeks to revoke citizenship of ‘NAZA’ film directors

Israeli Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar said on Sunday evening that he would seek to revoke the Israeli citizenship of the directors of the Israeli film NAZA, after it won the Jury Prize at the 83rd  Venice International Film Festival.

The film was directed by Oscar-winning Israeli journalists Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor (Britain). Some critics had tipped it for the festival’s Golden Lion for best film after it received a 25-minute standing ovation following its premiere.

In a statement, Zohar said: “As culture minister, I will act immediately to revoke the Israeli citizenship of these despicable creators for treason against the state.”  

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Zohar described NAZA’s win at the Venice Film Festival as “shocking”, adding that “the filmmakers’ burning self-hatred, and their willingness to harm their homeland in order to receive applause from anti-Semites around the world, is unbelievable and constitutes treason against the state”.

The film, which was added to the festival programme at a late stage, features testimonies from Israeli soldiers about the war in Gaza and what they describe as the systematic killing of Palestinian civilians.

It received a 25-minute standing ovation, the longest in the history of the festival.

The ovation surpassed the 24-minute applause for The Voice of Hind Rajab after its premiere last year. The film, which tells the story of a six-year-old girl killed in Gaza, won the festival’s second-highest award, the Silver Lion.

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