Israel’s culture minister has called for the Oscar-winning Israeli directors behind NAZA, a documentary about the killing of civilians in Gaza, to have their Israeli citizenship revoked, accusing them of “treason against the state”.

The film’s directors, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, were among the winners at major international events this year, including an Oscar for their earlier work, and the latest campaign against them has been voiced by senior figures in Israel’s government.

NAZA, Produced By The Guardian, Wins At Venice

NAZA was produced by the Guardian and takes its name from an acronym used by Israel’s intelligence service to indicate the number of civilians an airstrike is expected to kill in Gaza.

In the 80-minute documentary, Abraham and Szor speak to 24 Israeli military or intelligence whistleblowers who describe AI-powered targeting systems they say have been used in bombardments of Gaza. The film says those witnesses outline how targeting decisions are made, and includes a claim in one interview that approval had been given to kill 500 people identified as “NAZA” in order to kill one Hamas member.

The documentary received a special jury prize at the Venice film festival on Saturday, after a 25-minute standing ovation. The festival said the ovation was a record.

Culture Minister Calls For Citizenship Revocation

On Sunday, Miki Zohar, Israel’s culture minister, posted on X that the directors should be stripped of citizenship. He accused them of being willing to “harm their homeland in order to receive applause from antisemites around the world”.

“I will act immediately to revoke the Israeli citizenship of these despicable creators for treason against the state,” Zohar wrote.

Other ministers also attacked the film-makers online. Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right national security minister, said on X that they were “a disgrace and an embarrassment to the entire people of Israel” and told them to “Go away”. He added that he expected Hamas to “welcome you with open arms”.

Legal Basis And Previous Attacks

Revoking nationality is legally possible in Israel, but it is rarely used. In 2022, Israel’s supreme court confirmed that the state may strip a person of nationality if they fail to demonstrate “loyalty”, including through acts such as espionage or treason.

The legal framework was widened in 2023 to also apply to people convicted of “terrorism”. Under the law, the interior minister must submit a request, the justice minister must approve it, and judges must validate the decision.

Abraham’s family home was targeted by a rightwing mob after the world premiere in 2024 of No Other Land, another documentary made by the same pair. That film focused on Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

Speaking to the Guardian, Abraham said he and his team were taking risks in a system that he described as privileging Jewish-Israeli supremacy, and he argued that Palestinian journalists would face far greater danger for attempting similar outreach.

Military Rejects Allegations As War Death Toll Rises

The Israeli military said it “categorically rejects” the allegations made in NAZA. It criticised the documentary’s use of anonymous testimonies, saying the identities of the whistleblowers “cannot be verified”.

The campaign unfolds after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, leaving 1,221 people dead, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on official Israeli figures. Hamas militants also took 251 hostages to Gaza.

In the years since, Gaza’s health ministry has reported more than 73,000 deaths during the ensuing Israeli bombardment, the vast majority of them described as civilians.

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14 September 2026

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I don't agree with revoking the citizenship of anyone from any country for any reason.

If a citizen has broken a law, then prosecute them. If not, just suck it up and move on.