On Sunday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a formal announcement that the sitting premier has requested a trio of top Israeli security and legal officials to launch an urgent criminal investigation into all individuals involved in the award-winning documentary *NAZA*, a film that has ignited intense political firestorm just weeks ahead of Israel’s national election on October 27.
Netanyahu’s directive went out to Israel’s Army Chief Eyal Zamir, Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency head David Zini, and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, with instructions to immediately identify every person who participated in or appeared on camera for the project, which the prime minister has labeled a “libelous film.” In his official letter to the three leaders, Netanyahu pushed for full criminal investigation and potential prosecution, laying out three core accusations: severe breaches of Israeli information security laws, criminal defamation, and tangible harm to Israel’s diplomatic and national security interests.
The prime minister further claimed the documentary spreads systemic, false and misleading defamation against Israel and its armed forces, arguing that it has inflicted severe damage to the country’s international reputation. He also raised alarms that participants may have exposed top-secret intelligence related to Israel’s elite 8200 intelligence unit, creating a critical vulnerability in the country’s sensitive information security infrastructure.
Directed by two Oscar-winning Israeli filmmakers, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, *NAZA* centers its investigation on the artificial intelligence systems that Israel has deployed to carry out its military campaign in Gaza, with a specific focus on the film’s findings that these tools have enabled mass civilian casualties among Palestinian residents of the enclave. The film draws on firsthand testimony from 24 anonymous current and former Israeli military and intelligence insiders, grounding its claims in insider expertise that has made the work particularly controversial within Israeli political circles.
The controversy has already split public and political opinion in Israel. Palestinian political analyst Muhammad Shehada pointed out on social media platform X that Netanyahu’s push for a formal investigation inadvertently validates the film’s core claims. He noted that while Israeli officials initially dismissed *NAZA* as a manufactured hoax, the prime minister’s current stance that the documentary exposed classified information directly contradicts that earlier denial.
Political context adds extra layers to Netanyahu’s aggressive response to the film. As the prime minister campaigns for a historic sixth term in office, recent polling shows he is currently trailing opposition candidate and former army chief Gadi Eisenkot. Netanyahu has positioned *NAZA* as a central wedge issue in his re-election bid, launching repeated public attacks on the documentary in campaign appearances. On Sunday, Israeli media published leaked WhatsApp messages from Yonatan Urich, one of Netanyahu’s closest senior advisors, that revealed right-wing Channel 12 journalist Amit Segal advised the prime minister’s campaign to exploit the *NAZA* controversy for political gain.
Since *NAZA* took home the Special Jury Prize at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival last month, it has faced relentless backlash from across Israel’s political establishment, far-right activist groups, and media figures. Filmmakers Abraham and Szor have been publicly accused of treason, and senior officials have called for extreme measures against them. Last month, Army Chief Zamir already ordered military legal teams to pursue action against the filmmakers and the anonymous soldiers who gave on-the-record interviews for the project. The Israeli military also published a lengthy 17-page official rebuttal, arguing that the film falsely frames the Israeli military as intentionally targeting civilian populations in Gaza.
Netanyahu and Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar have gone as far as to call for Abraham and Szor to be stripped of their Israeli citizenship. Just last week, Zohur personally called on Shin Bet chief Zini to open an investigation into unsubstantiated claims that Abraham has ties to Hamas. In an interview with The Guardian’s *Stateside* podcast, Szor described the widespread backlash within Israel as deeply unsettling. Far-right protesters has already gathered outside the central Israeli home of Szor’s parents, holding demonstrations where they chanted calls for the two directors to be hanged for treason. Despite the threats, Szor pushed back on the criticism, noting that the film was made to spark necessary public conversation, and that the project has drawn meaningful support from a small segment of Israeli society that opposes the country’s long-standing policies toward Palestinians.