Israeli Film on Gaza Civilian Harm Wins Venice Award Amidst Fierce Domestic Backlash

The documentary film 'Nez'a' (Accidental Damage), by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Shore, has received the Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. The film features testimonies from 24 IDF officers who describe procedures and systems they claim are used to harm civilians in Gaza. The premiere at the festival was met with a lengthy standing ovation, reportedly a new record.

Following the award, director Yuval Abraham stated that Israeli politicians and journalists were attacking the film without seeing it, while Israelis were killing children in Gaza. He added that Israeli intelligence personnel had informed them about these attacks, which he described as systematic and based on the dehumanization of Palestinians.

The film's win has ignited a strong reaction within Israel's political and cultural spheres. Culture Minister Miki Zohar called the film 'despicable' and expressed outrage at the filmmakers' 'self-hatred,' vowing to pursue the revocation of their Israeli citizenship for alleged treason. The Israeli Film Council announced an emergency meeting to reconsider the scoring of international festivals, deeming the film a severe defamation of IDF soldiers.

The controversy has also drawn sharp criticism from former hostages held in Gaza. Eli-H Cohen posted an angry video, questioning how the filmmakers could return freely to Israel, and suggested public shaming. Rom Barslavsky, another former hostage, called the filmmakers 'traitors' and suggested they should be imprisoned, questioning if their film included Hamas's actions, such as sparing two infants after murdering their mother.

In response to the controversy, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir convened a security and command consultation. He ordered the establishment of a multi-organizational team to counter false claims against the IDF, instructed the Military Advocate General to examine legal actions against the film and its participants for spreading false claims, and initiated an investigation into potential leaks of classified materials used in the film.