Overview
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, October 12, sent a letter to the attorney general, the Shin Bet head and the IDF chief asking them to uncover the identities of people who appear in NAZA and to open urgent criminal investigations.
- NAZA is a documentary built on anonymized testimony from roughly two dozen Israeli military and intelligence personnel who say AI‑assisted systems and phone‑tracking were used to identify targets in Gaza in ways that contributed to civilian deaths.
- The IDF has published a formal rebuttal saying the film presents a distorted account and that artificial intelligence never independently selected strike targets, while supporters of the film point to its Venice Film Festival prize and wide international interest.
- Filmmakers and some interviewees have faced death threats and protests at family homes, and rights groups including PEN America have condemned government rhetoric and warned the directive could chill investigative journalism.
- Legal experts say measures such as citizenship revocation or prosecution under information‑security laws face high legal hurdles and likely court challenges, and the documentary continues screening internationally with planned streaming on The Guardian.