The controversial documentary Naza will be available for free online streaming in November following its global theatrical release in more than 50 countries.
The film, which was produced by The Guardian and will be available to stream on the outlet’s site, premiered at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month and is the work of Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.
Naza is based on testimonies from 24 anonymous Israeli soldiers and intelligence personnel, and its official synopsis states that the documentary reveals “in detail the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza”.
Naza is a Hebrew acronym for collateral damage, referring to the ratio of non-combatant casualties deemed acceptable in a strike on a single target. In the unit’s terminology, “Naza 15” permits 15 civilian deaths.
The film has drawn fierce backlash from various figures within Israel, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, who claimed it added to “global antisemitic incitement” and said that he would seek new laws allowing the country to strip citizenship from people who “smear” Israeli soldiers and “defame” the state of Israel.
Culture Minister Miki Zohar described it as “vile” and an “act of treason against the state” and similarly called for Abraham and Szor to have their citizenship revoked, while former Prime Minister Naftali Bennet condemned the film as “a horrific blood libel against our sons and daughters”.
However, more than 1,500 Israeli film-makers have signed a petition defending “freedom of expression and creation” and expressing solidarity with Szor and Abraham.
Announcing the move to make it free to view, Abraham said on X on Thursday that it was so that “every person can watch it and the soldiers’ testimonies”.
He also confirmed that Israeli cinemas that choose to screen the film for free “will be a brave decision in the face of great violence aimed at concealing it”.
“Many incorrect things were said about us and about the film in the past week,” he continued. “The film is based on three years of comprehensive journalistic investigation, and the details in it are verified and cross-checked. It will speak for itself, and the truth will ultimately come to light.
“We made the film to spark a public discussion about the government's actions in Gaza, the killing of more than 73,000 people, most of them civilians, the normalisation of a war of extermination, of the notion that ‘there are no uninvolved’.
“Journalism is not betrayal. Criticism is not betrayal. It is the duty of every citizen whose government commits crimes to know, and of every soldier who witnessed them to tell.
“There are thousands of such soldiers walking around here, who will watch the film and recognize what is described in it personally: the killing of unarmed people crossing an imaginary line, the NZA approvals in the hundreds, the systematic attacks on family homes, the burning and physical destruction of Gaza, murder and shooting at hungry people in food distribution centres, and other crimes that have no justification.
“Even if it's frightening, it is your duty to find a way to testify to what you saw. They will tell you that it's better to hide the truth for the sake of hasbara abroad, but that's nonsense. There, they already know everything. Crimes are not explained but stopped. Hiding the truth first and foremost poisons our society and, above all, allows the harm to human beings in Gaza to continue.”
Naza is set to make its North American premiere this Saturday at the New York Film Festival, marking the beginning of its global theatrical release.
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