Netanyahu proposes stripping citizenship of filmmakers behind Venice-awarded Gaza documentary

Premiere and documentary findings

Israeli investigative documentary NAZA received the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival on 12 September 2026 following a 25-minute standing ovation. Directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor in collaboration with The Guardian and +972 Magazine, the film examines military operations in the Gaza Strip. The title refers to an acronym used by the military to designate expected civilian collateral casualties during strikes. Abraham and Szor conducted interviews with 24 anonymous Israeli soldiers and intelligence officers on Tel Aviv rooftops at night, using altered voices and concealed faces to examine automated targeting systems and operational protocols.

If you deny crimes, they continue to exist. That is why we think it is important that Israelis see this film. Our country is committing these crimes.

Legislative proposals and political reaction

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published a video statement on 16 September 2026 announcing plans for two punitive bills. The first measure would allow the government to revoke Israeli citizenship for individuals who defame soldiers, while the second would multiply defamation damages twentyfold. Netanyahu cited Abraham, Szor, Democrats party leader Yair Golan, and former military advocate general Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi as individuals whose actions warranted punishment. Culture Minister Miki Zohar also urged revocation of citizenship and asked the domestic security service to investigate whether foreign adversaries contributed to the documentary.

Their place is not among us.

President Isaac Herzog addressed the initiative during a television broadcast, stating that citizenship revocation proposals have no practical chance of adoption. Herzog nevertheless criticized the documentary and its interviewees, arguing that personnel should have approached internal military channels rather than damaging the nation's international standing.

Protests and intimidation against directors

The filmmakers remain outside Israel as death threats circulate online and in public gatherings ahead of the film's screening at the New York Film Festival. Activist Mordechai David and demonstrator Tzuriel Shimon organized protests outside the Savyon residence of Szor's parents on 16 September 2026, where dozens of attendees called for the execution of the directors. In Ashdod, street artist Dudi Shuval painted murals depicting Abraham and Szor marked with red targets and the word traitors. In response to the backlash, hundreds of Israeli artists and filmmakers, including director Shlomi Elkabetz, signed a petition defending Szor and Abraham.

Legal standards and electoral backdrop

The dispute unfolds six weeks before Israel holds general parliamentary elections scheduled for 27 October 2026, where security policy and the conduct of the Gaza campaign serve as central campaign themes. Under a 2022 Israeli Supreme Court ruling, the state holds authority to revoke citizenship for acts of terrorism or treason through a formal process requiring applications by the interior minister, approval from the justice minister, and judicial confirmation. Abraham previously experienced similar intimidation in 2024 at his family home in Beersheva after winning an Academy Award alongside Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal for the documentary No Other Land.