LONDON: Israel’s reaction to a documentary about its conduct in the war in Gaza has proven “much more venal” than expected, one of its directors has said, The Guardian reported on Friday.
Speaking at the UK premier of “NAZA,” which interviews 24 Israeli military personnel about the use of artificial intelligence-led surveillance in Gaza, Jonathan Glazer said it contains “very similar themes” to his 2023 film “The Zone of Interest” about the lives of Nazi officers working at Auschwitz concentration camp.
“NAZA,” which details how AI was used to target Hamas operatives despite the knowledge that Israel’s actions would cause widespread civilian casualties, was released at the Venice Film Festival where it received a record 25-minute standing ovation and a special award.
Produced in partnership with The Guardian, it will be shown in cinemas in more than 50 countries and outperformed Marvel movie “Avengers Endgame: Encore” on its opening weekend in Italy.
The reaction by the Israeli government has been furious, announcing plans to strip people who “smear” Israeli soldiers of their citizenship.
The film’s directors, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, have been accused of treason, and security officials have been instructed to prosecute soldiers who took part in the film.
The Israeli government has also pushed a separate film project mimicking the style of “NAZA” in a bid to undermine the allegations made in the award-winning documentary.
Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military’s chief of staff, said it would use “every tool at our disposal” to counter “NAZA,” and the army released a 10-page document refuting many of its claims.
Szor’s parents, meanwhile, were subjected to a protest outside their house by people demanding she face the death penalty for creating the film.
A mural was also painted in the city of Ashdod depicting Szor and Abraham viewed through gun crosshairs.
Speaking to Katharine Viner, The Guardian’s editor-in-chief, Glazer said the reaction was “expected” but also “in my point of view … much more venal” than anticipated.
Addressing the audience after the New York premier, Szor said: “Our country is doing so much to hide these systems. It’s not a world that is open even to the Israeli public.”
The duo made the decision to shoot footage inside apartments in Tel Aviv so as to let viewers see the “ritual” of Israelis watching the war on television which, Abraham said, is one of the “mechanisms that allow human beings to do this to other human beings.”
In 2024, “The Zone of Interest” won the Academy Award for best international film. Glazer said in his acceptance speech that he opposed “Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people.”
He added: “All our choices were made to reflect and confront us in the present, not to say look what they did then, but rather look what we do now.
“Our film shows where dehumanisation leads at its worst. It’s shaped all of our past and present.”