The NAZA documentary will be released online in November for anyone to watch free of charge and without time limits. The film received the Special Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival in Italy.
Abraham said he made the decision together with fellow director Rachel Szor and co-producer The Guardian. Efforts were also underway to arrange free screenings of the documentary in cinemas in Israel while it was being shown in cinemas in different parts of the world.
Film features accounts from 24 soldiers
The product of three years of journalistic work, NAZA focuses on the testimonies of soldiers who served in the attacks in Gaza. The documentary includes accounts from 24 soldiers.
The film aims to spark public debate about the Israeli government's approach that there are no innocent people in Gaza. Abraham drew attention to the indifference in Israeli society toward the deaths of more than 73,000 people, including many children, in the attacks on Gaza.
Directors face backlash in Israel
In response to a post by Abraham, Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar told the director: "Do not return to the country; you are not wanted here. Traitor." Israel's public broadcaster KAN said Zohar had asked cinema owners not to screen the film, whether for payment or free of charge.
Following NAZA's award at the Venice Film Festival, Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir ordered military intelligence, the military prosecutor's office and the air force to determine the identities of the soldiers who spoke in the film and whether they were performing mandatory service or serving as reservists.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the documentary "anti-Semitic incitement" and announced that he would submit a bill to strip people who defame Israeli soldiers of their citizenship. On September 13, Zohar also threatened to strip directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor of their citizenship.
Dozens of far-right activists staged a demonstration outside the home of Szor's family in the town of Savyon in central Israel. The demonstrators chanted "the death penalty for traitors" in reference to the directors.
Standing ovation in New York
NAZA received a standing ovation at its North American premiere at the New York Film Festival. Netanyahu later told the Israeli outlet Makor Rishon that the film’s impact was like “launching dozens of ballistic missiles” at Israel. Speaking after the screening, Abraham called such rhetoric “the criminalization of journalism” and told the audience that the destruction in Gaza was being carried out with US taxpayers’ money.
