Dozens of Israeli journalists have signed a petition protesting the incitement against the creators of NAZA.

In recent days, the success of NAZA (Collateral Damage) at the Venice Film Festival has been followed by a broad campaign of incitement targeting its creators, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. The film, which has yet to be screened in Israel, focuses on IDF policies that led to the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent civilians during the Gaza war. It draws on testimony from 24 soldiers involved in selecting targets for strikes.

Immediately after the film premiered in Venice, Culture Minister Miki Zohar threatened to strip its creators of their citizenship. He later announced that he would work to deny public funding to institutions that dared to screen the film in Israel. IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir ordered legal steps to identify the soldiers who spoke with the two filmmakers, while a complaint was also filed with the police.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is standing trial on bribery charges, released a video backing Zohar’s threats and announced that he intends to advance two government-sponsored bills before the election: one would increase twentyfold–to NIS 1 million–the damages that can be awarded in a defamation suit without proof of harm; the other would allow citizenship to be revoked from anyone who “slanders IDF soldiers and the State of Israel around the world.”

The campaign did not stop with Israel’s political and military leadership. Journalists published abusive posts targeting the filmmakers; a graffiti artist depicted them as prisoners jailed for treason; and media personality Eyal Berkovic, an outspoken Netanyahu critic who is not identified with Israel’s right-wing government, likewise called making the film “an act of treason” and urged National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to “take care of them.” Channel 14 host Yehuda Schlesinger, meanwhile, called for Abraham and Szor to be “hunted down” and given no peace. Activists, including convicted criminal Mordechai David, also gathered outside the home of Szor’s parents.

Meanwhile, filmmakers and human rights organizations published petitions supporting the creators and condemning the attacks and incitement against them. Journalists have now issued their own petition. Under the title “Journalists Against Silencing,” they signed the following statement:

“We, Israeli journalists, condemn the vicious and baseless attacks by politicians, military officers, and opinion leaders in Israel against journalists and filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. Freedom of the press exists to protect views that fall outside the public consensus. In a country that aspires to be considered democratic, journalists and journalistic sources should not have to fear investigations, threats of violence, verbal abuse, or calls to have their citizenship revoked.”

This article was originally published in Hebrew on September 17, 2026.