‘NAZA’: More than 1,500 Israeli filmmakers sign petition backing directors after citizenship threats
Over 1,500 Israeli filmmakers petition to support NAZA directors facing citizenship threats after their award-winning documentary on military operations.
Prominent Israeli filmmakers have joined more than 1,500 industry figures in defending Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor after officials threatened to revoke their citizenship over the Venice-winning documentary
Published - September 16, 2026 11:04 am IST
Graffiti depicting Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the directors of the documentary film NAZA, and the word "traitors" in Hebrew, on a wall in Ashdod, southern Israel, September 15, 2026 | Photo Credit: REUTERS
More than 1,500 Israeli filmmakers and other film-industry figures have signed a petition supporting NAZA directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, days after Israel’s Culture Minister Miki Zohar threatened to seek the revocation of their citizenship. The petition rejects accusations that the filmmakers sought to damage Israel’s reputation and condemns what its signatories describe as an escalating campaign of vilification and threats against the pair.
Among the signatories are prominent Israeli filmmakers including Nadav Lapid, Hagai Levi, Shlomi Elkabetz, Liran Atzmor, Orna Ben Dor, Netalie Braun and Rani Blair. The petition calls on supporters of freedom of expression and artistic freedom to stand with Abraham and Szor, while warning that the rhetoric directed at them could create a physical threat to their safety.
The backlash follows NAZA’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where the documentary received a record 24-minute standing ovation before winning the Special Jury Prize. The film features testimony from 24 Israeli military and intelligence insiders about Israel’s military operations in Gaza, including the use of targeting and surveillance systems.
Zohar called the documentary an act of “treason against the state” and said he would seek to revoke the directors’ Israeli citizenship. Other Israeli officials have also condemned the film, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing its creators of incitement and antisemitism. The Israeli military has said it is investigating whether confidential information was leaked to the filmmakers.
The filmmakers have defended the documentary’s reporting and the testimony of its anonymous sources. NAZA builds on investigations previously published by +972 Magazine, the Hebrew-language publication Local Call and The Guardian. The Israeli military acknowledges using artificial intelligence to assist with identifying targets but maintains that human personnel make the final decision before an attack.
The petition comes as support for Abraham and Szor has also emerged from international film institutions. Telluride artistic director Julie Huntsinger and the heads of the Locarno Film Festival have publicly condemned the citizenship threat and defended the filmmakers’ right to pursue politically contentious subjects.
Abraham and Szor previously co-directed No Other Land, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2025. NAZA is their second documentary examining the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is expected to seek distribution in Israel, Europe and the United States.
Published - September 16, 2026 11:04 am IST
cinema / documentary films / Palestine / Israel / film making
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