Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Israel’s Culture Minister Miki Zohar has threatened to strip film-makers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor of their citizenship.
The pair won the jury’s special prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday for their documentary NAZA, about Israeli airstrikes killing Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
Based on anonymous interviews with 24 Israeli intelligence officers and soldiers, the film accuses the Israeli military of routinely approving mass civilian deaths when they target militants in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has denied the charge.
NAZA is a Hebrew acronym said to be used for counting the number of civilians estimated to be killed in a military strike.
Zohar said Abraham and Szor were willing to “harm their homeland in order to receive applause from anti-Semites around the world”.
“I will act immediately to revoke the Israeli citizenship of these despicable creators for treason against the state,” Zohar wrote on X.
Far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir also took to X, calling the pair “a disgrace and an embarrassment” to Israel.
“I am certain that your friends, that is to say our enemies Hamas in Gaza, will welcome you with open arms.”
The Israeli army has rejected allegations made in the film. A spokesman, responding to the film, accused the Hamas terrorist organisation of deliberately embedding military infrastructure in civilian areas.
More than 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, according to UN figures.
The film also addresses the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, which killed around 1200 people in Israel and prompted Israeli aerial strikes that levelled much of Gaza.
