Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine) 15.09.2026
Raviv Drucker, a central journalist in the liberal Zionist “Haaretz” writes:
“It was never so hard for me to watch a movie. I contracted physically in my chair. “NAZA” made me feel like a German who lived during World War II and heard what his people were doing. The feeling was so strong that the defensive Israeli, the explainer, came out of me.
From my acquaintance with one of the two filmmakers, Yuval Avraham, I have no doubt about his integrity. Some of the testimonies in the film are familiar to me personally, for example, about shooting at innocent Gazans who crossed a line they could not know existed; about shooting and killing hungry Gazans who wanted to get food at the aid centers that Israel had set up and exceeded the boundaries of the sector dictated to them.
With my own eyes, I saw an astronomical NZA badge (the number of innocents expected to be killed in an attack on a certain military target), which seemed disproportionate to the importance of the target. Things are hard to watch, certainly at the Venice Film Festival, where the film received long applause.
Now comes a big “but” and I am aware that it may have originated in self-defense. First, it is a huge problem to broadcast such harsh testimonies, without any factual detail that can be relied upon for verification. Soldiers testified that they were part of a machine that deliberately killed thousands of innocent Gazans, but there is no mention of a date, a place, not even a single case that can be relied upon.”
The film periodically plants hints about the context in which the terrible things were done. Between testimonies and testimonies, you see people dining in restaurants in Tel Aviv. One soldier says that all he cared about was completing the mission, another soldier speaks explicitly about comparing himself to the Nazis, and a third soldier testifies to how much he enjoys the job. You get a picture of how fun it was to kill innocent Gazan children. But maybe it has something to do with his real-time feeling that he is helping to harm Hamas?” [i]
Mr. Raviv, why don’t you say that it was necessary to provide their address as well so that it would be easy to eliminate them?
Liza Rozovsky and Yaniv Kobovitz write in Haaretz: “Although he has not yet seen the film, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir today (Monday) instructed the Military Advocate General’s Office to examine possible legal actions against the film “Incidental Damage” and those involved in it. “According to the publications that have emerged so far, this is not a film of criticism of the IDF and is not an attempt to clarify the truth. It is based on blood libels, a deliberate distortion of reality and false and serious accusations against IDF soldiers and commanders,” Zamir said after a discussion he chaired following the film’s win at the Venice Film Festival. Shortly before the Chief of Staff’s announcement was published, the IDF Spokesperson called on the filmmakers to allow military representatives to watch the film in its entirety”.[ii]
“The Foreign Ministry also convened discussions following the film’s win at the festival. The ministry fears that the IDF will find it difficult to refute the claims made in the film, which presents the testimonies of soldiers and officers regarding the killing of innocents during the war in the Gaza Strip. The ministry was surprised by the intensity of reactions around the world” [iii]
Culture Minister Miki Zohar insists on doing everything in his power to revoke the citizenship of Yuval Avraham and Rachel Shorr, the creators of the film “Collateral Damage.” According to him, it is possible that the material on which the film is based was obtained in a way that constitutes a betrayal of the state, alluding to sources in Hamas. [iv]
The framework of the storm following the film “Collateral Damage” (NAZA), which was screened at the Venice Film Festival, Erel Segal and Eyal Berkowitz spoke on Radio 103FM. Segal shared that he had difficulty watching the testimonies of the soldiers from 8200 about the IDF’s activity in Gaza, and Berkowitz claimed that in his opinion, the filmmakers should be subjected to very severe punishments.
Segal also had a hard time with the film and expressed his opinion on the soldiers’ testimonies that were presented. “This is a very serious offense. These people must be found and prosecuted. You come anonymously and say that Israel killed 500 Palestinians, when there was not a single witness to it in the war,” Segal was furious. Do you think there were war crimes? Come out with your face open and say it – not to your friends,” he clarified.
In his response, he was in fact responding to Raviv’s irresponsible criticism. If the identity and the time were known these soldiers could lose their lives.
Against the backdrop of the ongoing storm surrounding the film and its award win at the Venice Film Festival, more than 1,000 filmmakers have signed a petition backing Yuval Avraham and Rachel Shorr. “Witnessing a campaign of incitement and incitement against the filmmakers like no other,” they wrote. Among the signatories: Ari Folman, Hagai Levy, Nir Bergman, Shlomi Elkabetz and Shira Geffen”.
Endnotes:
[i] https://www.haaretz.co.il/opinions/2026-09-14/ty-article-opinion/.highlight/000001a0-9b2e-dfa9-ada3-db6e79a80000
[ii] https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/2026-09-14/ty-article/.premium/000001a0-9ff3-dceb-abe2-bffb6bf90000
[iii]
https://www.haaretz.co.il/gallery/cinema/2026-09-14/ty-article/000001a0-9ec9-d219-a3ed-bfdb63660000
[iv] ibid