Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to advance legislation that would revoke the citizenship of anyone who defames Israeli soldiers, including the directors of "NAZA," a documentary about the killings of civilians in Gaza. The move comes amid a charged domestic political atmosphere ahead of Israel's October 27 election.
Directed by Israeli journalists Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, "NAZA" documents allegations that mass civilian deaths were built into Israel's target decisions in its war against Palestinians in Gaza. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival last week. During his acceptance speech, Abraham said "our country is doing these crimes" and highlighted that Israel is systematically and deliberately targeting Palestinians in Gaza.
"NAZA" takes its title from an Israeli military term for expected "collateral casualties" and is built around anonymous interviews with intelligence officers and soldiers. It has been harshly criticised in Israel, with the military examining potential legal action against those involved.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu accused several of his election rivals of failing to take a tough stand against the documentary, claiming this made them unfit for office. On Wednesday, he pledged to advance two bills: "The first: To revoke the citizenship of anyone who defames Israeli soldiers, and the second: To hit them in their pockets and increase the statutory damages for defamation they can be sued for by 20 times."
Netanyahu cited three examples: the film "NAZA," 2025 remarks by left-wing ex-general Yair Golan that "a sane country does not kill children as a hobby," and a military legal officer's 2024 leak of a video showing soldiers abusing a Gaza detainee. In 2022, Israel's Supreme Court passed a law permitting stripping citizenship from Israelis who commit acts constituting a breach of trust against the state. Any new legislation would likely face similar court challenges.
More than 73,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel's war on Gaza since October 2023, according to health authorities.
Source: www.aljazeera.com