Naza: Netanyahu Orders Identification and Prosecution of Documentary Interviewees

Israeli Prime Minister calls for criminal investigation of soldiers and officers interviewed in Guardian documentary. Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the attorney general and head of the Shin Bet to reveal the identities of soldiers and officers interviewed in the investigative documentary Naza and prosecute them for creating a 'diplomatic pyramid' against Israel's diplomatic interests. The award-winning documentary, directed by Oscar winner f

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the country's attorney general and the head of the Shin Bet security service to reveal the identities of the soldiers and officers interviewed in the Naza investigative documentary and to prosecute them for "damaging Israel's diplomatic and security interests."

This award-winning documentary, directed by Oscar-winning filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Zor and produced by The Guardian, details Israel's massacre of civilians in Gaza. The film will be released in cinemas in more than 50 countries, including in the UK and the US.

In a letter addressed to Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, and Shin Bet Chairman David Zini, the Israeli Prime Minister asked them to "take immediate action to discover the identity of all those involved or appearing in this film."

Netanyahu also called for "the opening of criminal investigations and prosecutions for serious information security crimes, criminal defamation, and harming Israel's diplomatic and security interests."

NAZA premiered at the Venice International Film Festival last month, where it received the Special Jury Prize after receiving the longest standing ovation in the event's history. It takes its name from an acronym used by Israeli intelligence to indicate the number of civilians it expects to be killed in an airstrike.

The Israeli government strongly attacked Abraham and Zor and threatened to revoke their citizenship and accuse them of treason. Government supporters have vowed to hunt down the filmmakers on their return to Israel, and picketed Sour's parents' home in Savyon, chanting "death to traitors."

Zamir condemned this film as an "attack on the Israeli government" and accused it of publishing "bloody lies and slanders". He had previously ordered the military and legal authorities to identify the identified soldiers and investigate possible legal actions against them. However, Army Solicitor General Itai Ophir said criminal prosecution would require evidence of a security breach or disclosure of classified material, although disciplinary action is still possible.

Protection of journalistic sources is a cornerstone of press freedom based on international human rights standards, and disclosure orders are permitted only in extreme circumstances.

Ricardo Gutiérrez, secretary general of the European Federation of Journalists, representing more than 320,000 journalists, said: "These threats are clear intimidation against journalists who are simply doing their job, in accordance with ethical standards and in the public interest. I am not surprised by this action against this regime which is ready to cover this humanitarian crime and approve of this crime. The ongoing genocide in Gaza.

A spokesman for the Guardian said: "After the first threat of stripping the Naza directors of their Israeli citizenship, the Israeli government is now demanding an investigation into their journalistic sources." These moves are all attempts to distract from the film's more pressing questions about the mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. "Journalists should be free to pursue public interest investigations without threats or harassment."

Naza is based on revelations first published by the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine, Hebrew-language media Local Call and the Guardian between 2023 and 2025. Earlier this month, a Guardian spokesperson said: "The process of assessing the credibility of the testimonies was difficult. This included declassified documents, detailed verification of specific strikes and confirmation through a wider array of confidential journalistic sources that did not appear on camera.

The Guardian spokesperson added: Over the past three years, the film's team has "interviewed more than 100 sources familiar with the Israeli systems used in the Gaza war, including senior commanders directly involved in authorizing the attacks."

In recent days, the Israeli government has promoted an online film project that mimics Naza's style to challenge the film's actual findings. Ariel Orbuch, an Israeli lawyer and army reservist who made the film NAZA: The Real Story, described it as an "insulting move" aimed at diverting the world's attention from allegations of Israeli military killings of civilians.

Film industry heavyweights around the world, including the heads of the Locarno Film Festival, have expressed solidarity with Abraham and Zor, saying they "stand firmly in support of filmmakers' rights to pursue difficult and urgent issues without fear of retribution".