Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has joined in on the calls to revoke citizenship from Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the Oscar-winning filmmakers whose latest film, “NAZA,” exposes how the Israeli Defense Forces have killed thousands of Palestinian civilians.
“We will stand by our heroic warriors. We will revoke citizenship from anyone who defames IDF soldiers abroad — and hit them hard in the pocket,” Netanyahu declared in a social media post released Wednesday.
The PM announced that he would introduce two bills in the Knesset, one that would revoke the citizenship of “anyone who slanders IDF soldiers” and another that would “[raise] the defamation damages they can be sued for twentyfold.” His comments, translated by news agency Anadolu, come after condemnation of the film by Israel’s culture minister Miki Zohar, who also called for the filmmakers’ citizenship to be revoked.
Abraham and Szor received Academy Awards in 2025 for their documentary “No Other Land,” which was filmed almost entirely before the Oct. 7 attacks and showed the destruction of the West Bank Palestinian community Masafer Yatta after an Israeli “firing zone” was declared on their land. The Israeli filmmakers directed the film alongside Palestinian filmmakers Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal.
In “NAZA,” Abraham and Szor spoke with two dozen anonymous Israeli military and intelligence insiders about the titular military term, which is used in the IDF with regards to the level of acceptable civilian deaths when planning out strikes to kill suspected Hamas members.
The insiders interviewed in the film said that the number of “NAZA” deemed acceptable reached as high as 500 Palestinian casualties in a single given strike. The interviewees describe other atrocities, such as IDF snipers shooting down civilians trying to reach a food distribution site.
“NAZA” received a lengthy standing ovation at its Venice Film Festival premiere and numerous awards, including the festival’s Special Jury Prize. MK2 Films is handling sales on the film.
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