Netanyahu demanded investigations into whistleblowers from the documentary NAZA.
The film accused Israel of using AI targeting against civilians.
Israel denied the claims, while producers defended their rigorous reporting.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for an investigation to reveal the identities of soldiers and officers featured in a documentary, "NAZA," which alleged that the Israeli military used AI-powered targeting systems to kill civilians in Gaza.
NAZA is an award-winning investigative documentary that took testimonies from 24 anonymous Israeli military whistleblowers who accused the army of using the systems to kill several civilians in Gaza, whose larger area is under the control of Israel.
Netanyahu wrote on his X account a letter to IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, Shin Bet chief David Zini and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and said that "the film presents a false, misleading and biased narrative that defames the State of Israel and the IDF around the world and severely damages Israel's standing.”
He further said, “I demand that the chief of general staff, the head of the Shin Bet, and the attorney general launch a comprehensive investigation into the participants in the film ‘Naza’ and prosecute them for serious information security violations, criminal libel, and harm to Israel’s diplomatic and security interests.”
NAZA received a historic 25-minute standing ovation at the Venice International Film Festival, where it was awarded a special jury prize.
The directors of the film, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, were accused of treason, and Netanyahu even threatened to revoke their Israeli citizenship.
Israeli military released a statement last month and said it “categorically” rejected the whistleblowers’ allegations. It called the allegations “absurd’ and contradictory. The military emphasised that all target selections and strike approvals are handled strictly by humans, in keeping with official guidelines.
Response From The Producers
In response to the allegations, the producer of the film, The Guardian, said that the "process of assessing the credibility of the testimonies was rigorous. It included leaked classified documents, detailed verification of specific strikes and corroboration via a wider pool of confidential journalistic sources who did not appear on camera in the film."
It further added that in the past three years it has "interviewed more than 100 sources familiar with IDF systems used in the war in Gaza, including senior-ranking commanders directly involved in the authorisation of strikes," according to Haaretz.
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, after Palestinian fighters led by Hamas’s armed wing crossed into southern Israel. That raid left roughly 1,140 people dead and about 240 held captive.
