Netanyahu vows to revoke citizenship of those who ‘defame’ Israeli soldiers in Gaza documentary NAZA

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday to revoke the citizenship of those who “defame” Israeli soldiers in NAZA, a documentary on killings in Gaza, and impose significantly higher financial penalties on them, Anadolu reports.

Netanyahu made the remarks in a video statement following the recent screening of the Israeli documentary at the Venice International Film Festival. The film documents alleged crimes committed by Israeli forces during the war on the Gaza Strip.

“Regarding the film NAZA, which portrayed Israeli army officers and soldiers as war criminals, I will now introduce two bills, both government bills,” Netanyahu said.

He said the first bill would revoke the citizenship of those who “defame Israeli army soldiers.”

The second, according to Netanyahu, would increase by 20-fold the amount of compensation that could be sought against them in defamation cases.

“We will hit them in their pockets and also in their citizenship, because their place is not among us,” he added.

On Saturday, NAZA won the Special Jury Prize at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. The documentary was directed by Oscar-winning Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.

NAZA is an abbreviation used by Israel’s military intelligence agency, Aman, to refer to the number of civilians expected to be killed in an airstrike.

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The documentary was secretly filmed on rooftops in Tel Aviv over three years, with the identities, voices and appearances of participants digitally altered to protect them.

Israeli military personnel featured in the documentary said they had directly witnessed residential areas used by Palestinians as shelters being set ablaze, and people being killed during food distribution in Gaza.

Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir on Monday ordered the military prosecutor to examine possible legal action against those behind NAZA, while maintaining that the army operates in accordance with international law.

Israeli Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar also contacted Shin Bet chief David Zini on Wednesday to request an urgent investigation into the documentary, according to public broadcaster KAN.

Israel’s military campaign in Gaza since October 2023 has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and injured over 174,000, most of them women and children, according to Palestinian authorities.

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