Israeli minister threatens to revoke filmmakers’ citizenship over Gaza film
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Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar has threatened to revoke the citizenship of filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor after their documentary on Israel’s genocide in Gaza won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.
In a post on X on Sunday, Zohar described the documentary as “vile” and called its award at the film festival “shocking”. He accused Abraham and Szor of harming Israel “just to get applause from antisemites around the world”.
The minister said the filmmakers’ actions “constitute treason against the state”.
“As culture minister, I will act immediately to revoke the Israeli citizenship of these despicable creators for treason against the state,” he wrote.
The 80-minute film documents Israel’s use of AI-powered systems in what the Venice Film Festival’s official synopsis describes as “calculated mass killings” of Palestinians in Gaza. The documentary received a 25-minute standing ovation at its premiere at the festival.
The film features testimonies from Israeli military and intelligence personnel who spoke on condition of anonymity. The interviewees described an AI system called “Lavender”, which they said was used to monitor telecommunications between Palestinians in Gaza and identify targets for killing.
Abraham said he hoped the documentary would encourage Western governments to impose economic sanctions on Israel.