'They know the house they are bombing is full of children': NAZA’s directors on their devastating film about Israeli intelligence
Rachel Szor and Yuval Abraham collected the testimony of 24 insiders who helped remotely target Gazans’ homes. They explain how they got these self-professed ‘small cogs’ to talk about the killing
TL;DR
- The documentary 'NAZA' uses anonymized testimonies from 24 Israeli intelligence and military insiders.
- The film reveals the development of an AI mapping tool used to identify targets in Gaza, leading to airstrikes on apartment buildings.
- 'NAZA' is an acronym used by Israeli intelligence to denote the expected number of civilian deaths in an airstrike.
- Directors Rachel Szor and Yuval Abraham explain that some insiders spoke due to pride in their technical expertise, not shame.
- The film critiques the remote nature of warfare and the use of euphemistic language that obscures the human cost of bombings.
- The documentary suggests a disconnect between the technical execution of attacks and the moral responsibility for the resulting civilian casualties.
- The film-makers faced personal repercussions and family disapproval for their work, particularly in the current political climate in Israel.
- One soldier's testimony draws a parallel between current actions and the Holocaust, questioning his own morality.
- The Israeli military has rejected the documentary's allegations, criticizing the use of unverified anonymous testimonies and stating efforts are made to minimize civilian harm.