Israeli minister threatens to revoke filmmakers’ citizenship over Gaza film

Israel's Culture Minister Miki Zohar has pledged to strip the citizenship of Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor after their Gaza war documentary NAZA won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.

In a statement posted on X platform, Zohar described the documentary as "vile" and labelled its Venice accolade "shocking," accusing the filmmakers of harming their country to win foreign approval and claiming their work constitutes "treason against the state."

"This is exactly the reason I led the important reform in cinema so that Israeli citizens will no longer have to pay out of their own pockets for the harm to IDF soldiers and the State of Israel," Zohar said.

"As culture minister, I will act immediately to revoke the Israeli citizenship of these despicable creators for treason against the state."

According to the Venice Film Festival's official synopsis, NAZA examines what it describes as the institutional mechanisms behind Israel's "calculated mass killing" of Palestinian civilians across Gaza.

The production incorporates direct testimonies from Israeli military intelligence officers and active-duty soldiers.

The documentary won the prestigious Special Jury Prize at the festival on Saturday after its official premiere on Thursday, where it drew a sustained standing ovation lasting about 25 minutes.

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Source: TRT