The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, communicated this Wednesday that he will bring to Parliament two new proposals for laws aimed at punishing "defamations" against the Israeli Army. One of these initiatives contemplates the withdrawal of citizenship, an announcement that comes after the release of the documentary 'NAZA', co-directed by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, which examines the offensive on the Gaza Strip based on testimonies from Israeli soldiers.
"The first would revoke the citizenship of anyone who defames the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and the second would affect them financially by multiplying by twenty the amount of compensation for damages to which they can be sentenced for defamation," he detailed in a video shared on his social media.
Netanyahu indicated that these measures are proposed as a direct response to said documentary, awarded the Special Jury Prize at the recent Venice Film Festival, as he pointed out, "it presents IDF officers and soldiers as war criminals." Furthermore, he brought up the statements of opposition member Yair Golan in May 2025, when he stated that "a sane country does not kill babies as a pastime," words he later retracted.
"We will hit them from behind, again and again, because their place is not with us. And one more thing: I hope that all members of the Knesset who say they support the Zionist idea will back both bills," added the Israeli leader.
For his part, the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Eyal Zamir, reported earlier this week that he has ordered the chief military legal advisor to study the possibility of taking legal action against those responsible for the film, which, in his words, "adopts the narrative of those who hate Israel, defames our soldiers and commanders, and seeks to present the IDF as if they were acting illegally deliberately."
After the screening of the film —produced by 'The Guardian'—, the Minister of Culture, Miki Zohar, demanded that Israeli nationality be revoked from Abraham and Szor for "treason." "It is a betrayal of the country (...). As Minister of Culture, I will act immediately to revoke the Israeli citizenship of these despicable directors for betraying the country," he stated on Sunday.
With a duration of 80 minutes, 'NAZA' focuses on the campaign of systematic attacks by Israel in the Palestinian enclave through the account of 24 intelligence officers and soldiers, who describe methods of phone espionage and the use of Artificial Intelligence systems to select targets. According to their directors' allegations, this device would operate as a massive gear that deliberately causes the death of hundreds of collateral civilians in a single bombing.