Adnkronos (Adnkronos) – The success at the Venice Film Festival, the Special Jury Prize, the harsh condemnations of the Israeli government. Then the success in Italian theaters: already nearly €4 million in box office, according to Cinetel data.
Naza
, the documentary on the war in Gaza by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, is not just one of the cinematic events of the year.
It is also one of the most successful political and cultural communication operations linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The film, built around the anonymous testimonies of 24 members of the Israeli army and intelligence, describes the functioning of the systems for identifying military targets in the Strip, the use of artificial intelligence and the criteria used to evaluate possible civilian casualties.
A very harsh reconstruction, which attributes to the Israeli authorities the responsibility of having deliberately accepted high levels of losses among the Palestinian population.
The Israeli government rejects these accusations and considers the documentary a distorted representation of military operations. Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly attacked it, going so far as to propose a law to revoke the citizenship of those who defame Israeli soldiers.
The controversy did not slow down the film's circulation.
On the contrary, it helped transform it into an international media event. But behind this achievement are not just the two directors. There is a consolidated network of newspapers, foundations, cultural organizations, and individuals active in the boycott of Israel movement. A network whose funding and professional connections are largely public and documentable, and which Adnkronos was able to verify. They don't prove the existence of a control room, but they help us understand how Naza became a global product.
The communicative power of the project also emerges from the reaction it provoked in Israel.
Netanyahu accused the documentary of defaming the Israeli military and, in September, announced his intention to promote tougher laws against those who portray them as war criminals. The statements fueled internal political conflict, while the filmmakers reported threats and intimidation.
But the protests don't just come from the government.
In a detailed response published on October 1, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accused the film of containing substantial errors, decontextualized testimony, and a misleading portrayal of targeting procedures.
In particular, the army disputes that an attack with a predicted 500 civilian casualties, as reported in the documentary, was ever authorized. It also rejects the idea that artificial intelligence systems can autonomously decide who to target, arguing that the data processed by technological tools is subject to further verification and a chain of human authorization.
The Israeli position is that the film confuses preliminary estimates of possible collateral damage with final operational decisions, overlooking the measures taken to reduce risks to civilians. Another criticism concerns the context: the focus on Israeli bombings leaves out the massacre committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023, the hostage issue, and the use of civilian infrastructure by Palestinian militias.
The filmmakers and the British newspaper The Guardian, which co-produced Naza, responded that they consulted over 100 sources, including officials responsible for decision-making processes, and that they verified the testimonies through documents and independent evidence.
To understand how Naza reached such a wide audience, we need to go back to the journalistic organizations that provided the investigations on which it is based.
The Guardian, co-producing with James Wilson (JW Films), represents the main channel for international visibility, and there is even talk of a future free streaming distribution on the British newspaper's website to maximize circulation. Among the executive producers is Jonathan Glazer, Oscar-winning director of The Zone of Interest.
Another important component is +972 Magazine and its Hebrew-language publication, Local Call, both of which have focused on documenting Israeli military actions for years.
Yuval Abraham works for Local Call, founded and published jointly by the US organization Just Vision and 972 Advancement of Citizen Journalism, the Israeli publishing association of +972 Magazine.
According to grant records from the Open Society Foundations, the network founded by financier George Soros and now led by his son Alexander, $1,125 million has been allocated over the years to Just Vision and another $400 to 972 Advancement of Citizen Journalism. A portion of the funding was specifically earmarked for the development of Local Call.
even the
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
supported Just Vision, with two multi-year grants of $335 and $300, awarded in 2021 and 2024, respectively.
The same foundations separately fund other organizations active in the defense of Palestinian rights, including some that explicitly support a boycott of Israel.
The point needs to be made: these are grants to journalistic and cultural organizations, not verified contributions to Naza's film production. There is insufficient public evidence to support the claim that Open Society, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, or other donors commissioned the film or influenced its content.
However, one significant fact remains: some of the journalistic organizations that fueled the project have been operating for years, thanks also to the support of large international foundations, within a cultural environment openly hostile to the policies of the Israeli government.
The boundary between information and political mobilization isn't hidden by some of the organizations involved. Indeed, it's being asserted.
In an interview published by the Jewish Liberation Fund, Dana Mills, head of resource development at +972 Magazine, explained that the publication's goal is to combine independent journalism with anti-occupation and anti-apartheid activism.
His formulation is particularly explicit: “Our journalistic work itself is our activism.”
Mills also states that the editorial staff maintains rigorous professional standards and considers its independence a fundamental element. The newspaper does not claim neutrality in its positions, but maintains that a clear political vision can coexist with rigorous investigative reporting.
Indeed, Just Vision openly describes its mission as combining journalism, documentary filmmaking, and strategic audience engagement, with the aim of influencing debate and perceptions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
It is precisely this integration between content production and mobilization capacity that represents one of the most distinctive aspects of the ecosystem surrounding Naza.
Connections also occur through people. Noa Yachot, a board member of +972 Magazine and senior editor of the Guardian in the United States, is listed among the documentary's co-producers. Yousef Munayyer, former executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, an organization that supports the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, also sits on the +972 board.
Also among the executive producers is Wendy vanden Heuvel, who is connected to PalFest, a Palestinian cultural initiative that supports boycott campaigns against certain Israeli publishers.
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