‘Naza’ Drew Protests at Its Premiere. It’s a Film That Demands to Be Seen

This season, which focuses on tracking down Hamas operatives to stop another catastrophic attack on Israel, speaks directly to a post-October 7 Israeli psyche that is consumed by revenge fantasies. It dramatizes the silent ethos that even most pro-Israeli parties won’t say out loud: “Hamas started this. Now people are dying; that’s war. And because there’s no such thing as an innocent Palestinian, their people are being collectively punished—however unfortunate that result may be.” In a television interview, Israeli actor Sarai Givaty (who is not in Fauda) appeared to justify the killing of children in Gaza by saying that if Israel didn’t kill those children, they would grow up to be terrorists.

Naza is hitting a nerve not just because it exposes the IDF’s alleged war crimes in a society that reveres its military—and where serving in it is compulsory—but because the film puts a spotlight on Unit 8200, the Israeli military’s elite intelligence unit where many of its sources served. These are not some “rogue commanders” or “a few rotten apples,” says Matar. “These are the elite of society. They are the ones who go on to found start-ups.”

Szor and Abraham’s previous film, No Other Land, depicts the destruction of Palestinian villages in the West Bank. Unlike that movie, Naza implicates both the left and the right.

What’s more, “these are likely people who loathe Netanyahu,” Peter Beinart, author of Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza, said in a recent video posted on Substack. Szor and Abraham’s previous film, No Other Land, depicts the destruction of Palestinian villages in the West Bank. Unlike that movie, Naza implicates both the left and the right. “A lot of these officers and soldiers consider themselves leftists,” Szor said at the premiere on Saturday.

Meanwhile, among New York’s Jewish elite, the singular focus for many continues to be antisemitism—rather than the ongoing killing of innocent civilians in their name. Recently, a group of Jewish grande dames on the Upper East Side used their considerable collective clout not to stand up to ethnic cleansing, but to call for the cancellation of fashion designer John Galliano’s exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute because of antisemitic remarks Galliano made in 2011 that he has since apologized for. On September 18, the Upper East Side Jewish day school Ramaz and the Riverdale-based SAR Academy partnered on a public “tefillah,” or prayer session, for 200 students outside of Gracie Mansion. A petition against the gathering, signed by nearly 400 parents, alumni, and students and addressed to the leadership at both institutions, expressed concerns that students were being used as “political pawns.”