Why Israelis are refusing to watch the controversial documentary 'NAZA'

Right-wing activists protesting the 2026 documentary film "NAZA" demonstrated outside the home of the family of its co-director Rachel Szor in Israel's central city of Savyon near Tel Aviv on September 16, 2026. NAZA, a Hebrew acronym for "collateral damage," is a documentary made by Yuval Avraham and Rachel Szor that has yet to secure an Israeli distributor or a public screening, despite its creators’ stated intention to show it widely in the country.

Various senior executives, from the Israeli military chief of staff to the minister of culture, promised that they were about to take steps against the creators of the film. Other than stripping them of their Israeli citizenship, what those steps could be remained unclear. However, one refrain dominated the outrage directed at Avraham and Szor: those condemning the film had no intention of watching it.

This oath to refrain from watching the film mirrors a broader reaction seen during the early months of the war, when many Israelis stated they had "closed their hearts" to the devastation in Gaza, refusing to feel pity for anyone associated with the October 7 atrocities. While the Israeli left hoped exposure to images from Gaza would spark protests to stop the war, those expectations were rebuffed.

NAZA itself challenged the mainstream Israeli media narrative. When Raviv Drucker, a prominent investigative journalist, was asked by Yuval Avraham why the Israeli media had failed to expose the methods of killing documented in NAZA, Drucker explained that doing so was difficult. He added that if it were up to him, he would not have aired the film due to concerns over journalistic professionalism and its reliance on anonymous testimony.

Other leftist journalists quickly echoed these criticisms, accusing the creators of seeking money, attention, or working for Israel's downfall to serve Netanyahu and Qatar. Figures like Uri Misgav argued that the film disregarded journalistic standards, suggesting its makers had already concluded that Israel was solely responsible for the situation in Gaza.

For many Israelis, refusing to watch NAZA is a point of pride, driven by a belief that the film lacks standards, constitutes treason, or violates the unwritten rule of washing dirty laundry at home rather than airing it internationally. Despite criticisms of military and legal investigations into war crimes, many Israelis reject external accusations as further evidence of global anti-Semitism. Consequently, shutting their eyes and ears to the documentary allows them to maintain their perspective, dismissing the Venice Film Festival's recognition of Yuval Avraham and Rachel Szor as yet another effort to portray Israel negatively.