‘NAZA’ isn’t the problem. Israel is, for supporting this government – opinion

SEPTEMBER 28, 2026 14:00According to press reports from reporters who were present on September 16, New York’s 268-seat Walter Reade Theater was at capacity for a press briefing on the blockbuster documentary NAZA, which opens in the US on September 26.Attendees were told to arrive a half hour early to get a seat, a very unusual request for documentaries of any sort, even those that, like NAZA, win the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.By now, it is well known that the film features anonymous interviews with 24 IDF intelligence officers and soldiers, most of whom claim, without any corroboration, that they were involved in either planning or carrying out remote strikes in Gaza with no regard for NAZA, the IDF acronym for “collateral damage.”More than that, the film posits that killing civilians, children included, was part of an IDF strategy linked to getting at all those involved in the planning or execution of the dastardly attack against Israel on October 7.The reaction here has been swift and weighty.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the United Nations in New York City, September 24, 2026. (credit: Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the Knesset to pass legislation enabling Israel to strip the two Israeli producers of their citizenship. Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar is urging the Interior Ministry to investigate them for treason.Reportedly, supporters and staff members of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir even showed up at the home of the parents of one of the producers, where a speaker called for both Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor to be executed and their families’ homes demolished, which is what we often do to the homes of Palestinian terrorists.The film is a damning indictment accusing the IDF of wanton, planned killing of civilians during the Israel-Hamas War, even though military analysts from the US, UK, and EU have all admitted that Israel has demonstrated a historically low combatant-to-civilian casualty ratio (1:1.5 or 1:1) when compared to any urban warfare history with even remotely similar conditions, especially urban-centric wars, not isolated battles.Retired US Army officer John Spencer, chairman of War Studies at the Madison Policy Forum, acknowledges that “Israel has implemented more civilian harm mitigation measures than any military in history.These include advance notifications, daily humanitarian pauses, roof knocking, communication techniques with civilians to include evacuation maps/drones/speakers, withholding or aborting strikes, layered targeting approval processes, technological tools to track civilian presence, restrictions on the use of force, and more.”Criticism of Israel is not treasonGiven these facts of which we should be proud, what causes us, as a nation, to resist taking an honest look at criticism, evaluating the facts to the best of our ability, and then taking action to punish those at fault?The producers of this film surely have a desire to show Israel in its worst light, but that is not treason. For sure, the interviews themselves are suspect, as we do not know who gave them, what positions they held that would allow them to know the facts they claim are true, or whether they shared classified material in violation of the law.But what if they are correct? Would we not want to know that? And if they are not correct, shouldn’t we push back on that, rather than demanding punishment for the producers for exercising their right to free speech?Yet, somehow or other, in recent years we seem to have receded to a position that basically says no, we don’t want to know.How else to analyze the fact that three years after the worst security breach in our nation’s history – which caused the deaths of 1,200 innocent Israelis, the taking of 251 hostages, and the looting, raping, and pillaging that went on as the Hamas terrorists laid siege to our South – there still has not been a state commission of inquiry impaneled?How is it that, three years after October 7, for the most part, the same people who were in charge of the government that chose not to listen to reputable warnings and allowed the disaster to happen are still in positions of responsibility?How is it that those very same people are campaigning to get reelected, yet no one points to the incongruous situation in which those who failed us once are asking us to elect them again? More amazingly, they have a very good chance of succeeding.NAZA is a stain on the State of Israel, and, if what it portrays has even a kernel of truth, no Yom Kippur will ever absolve us of the guilt we collectively bear.However, the problem is not with the film or its misdirected producers propped up by the blatantly antisemitic Guardian newspaper.Our problem is with our government, which refuses to entertain the possibility that it made an error, refuses to impanel neutral bodies to examine the charges of mismanagement, along with a populace that is so complacent as to allow the charade of non-responsibility to continue.It is that problem that we, the people, must address on October 27. Hopefully, we will have the wisdom to do so; else I fear for the future of the country.The writer, a 42-year resident of Jerusalem, is a former national president of the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel, a past chairman of the board of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, and a board member of the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce.Follow us on Google