Israeli officials fume over award-winning death-by-AI documentary

Culture Minister Miki Zohar has called for NAZA’s directors to be stripped of citizenship while accusing them of “betrayal against the state” Several senior Israeli politicians have lashed out at the filmmakers behind a documentary accusing the IDF of using AI-assisted systems in the mass killing of Palestinians in Gaza.

Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar went so far as to accuse the two Oscar-winning directors of treachery and threatened to have them stripped of Israeli citizenship.

The controversy erupted after the 80-minute-long film NAZA – the name alludes to an Israeli military shorthand for expected “collateral casualties” – received a 25-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival last week and won the Special Jury Prize.

The film, directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, is based on the accounts of anonymous Israeli military and intelligence insiders alleging that the IDF heavily relied on AI systems to identify people and homes for attack on a massive scale, often disregarding collateral civilian casualties.

Some insiders described the process as “insanely fun” and akin to a “videogame.” Read more Israel used AI to kill thousands of Palestinians in Gaza – documentary The IDF has categorically rejected the film’s portrayal, saying the selection and approval of strikes are carried out “by human personnel only.” The film also caused a stir among senior Israeli officials.

Zohar called the accolade “shocking,” accusing the directors of seeking to “harm their homeland just to get applause from anti-Semites around the world.” “[This] is inconceivable and constitutes a betrayal of the state… As Minister of Culture, I will act immediately to revoke the Israeli citizenship of these despicable creators,” he wrote on X on Sunday.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had attacked the documentary even before the award, calling it a “horrific blood libel” and saying it was particularly infuriating that the accusations had come from Israeli filmmakers.

He also acknowledged civilian casualties in Gaza, but argued that “there is no magic button that can destroy Hamas, or any terrorist organization hiding behind” ordinary people.

Yesterday, a film accusing Israel of genocide premiered.

It’s a horrific blood libel against our sons and daughters.

What makes it especially painful and infuriating is that this lie comes from Israeli filmmakers and is now being spread around the world.