HOW ISRAEL CAN REFUTE THE ALLEGATIONS IN THE MOVIE CALLED NAZA
The claim in the documentary movie called ” NAZA” is that the IDF, during the Gaza War, loosened its rules of engagement that were designed to limit civilian casualties and adopted policies that would allow the killing of up to 500 civilians deaths in pursuit of a Hamas target. Another claim is that the IDF often used AI to target Hamas rather than allowing humans to make the decisions. The movie justifies its claims by having 24 anonymous IDF soldiers and Israeli intelligence personnel tell its story.
Politicians, and the IDF, have denied the movie’s allegations in the strongest terms. One politician called it a modern day “blood libel” against the Jewish people. Some have called for the revocation of the Israeli citizenship for the Israeli man and woman involved in its production. NAZA premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it received the Special Jury Prize and a 25 minute standing ovation. This gave the movie credibility and international and social media attention. The movie will be released soon so that the public around the world can see it.
What can Israel do about this film to stop its acceptance by the public as the truth about the IDF’s conduct in Gaza?? That’s easy. Tell the world that Israel is willing to allow the 24 alleged members of the IDF and intelligence services in the movie to testify openly in an Israeli court about the alleged war crimes or improper actions. However, the alleged members must testify like witnesses in an ordinary criminal case. The witnesses must first be able to confirm that they were in the IDF or Israeli intelligence services during the war and in a place, during the war, that allowed them to see the criminal acts that they allege. At this point, for all we know the 24 witnesses could be simply actors reading a movie script that they did not prepare. Next, these alleged witnesses must identify the persons they accuse of loosening standards, using AI to strike Hamas, and/or how they know that the IDF would target as many as 500 civilians to be killed in pursuit of a Hamas target. Of course, these witnesses can be cross-examined by the government attorneys, as in any other criminal case, in order to determine their credibility, truthfulness and biases. The government will then have the opportunity to present its own witnesses to contradict the movie’s alleged witnesses and allow persons accused of crimes, or improper actions, to deny or disprove the allegations of any improper or criminal act.
Allowing the alleged 24 witnesses to testify is based on the assumption that Israel can easily prove that the allegations are false or wildly distored, or based on misinformation about how the IDF and it AI systems work. Maybe none of the alleged witnesses were even in the IDF or intelligence personnel during the Gaza War. The only reason for the Israeli government to not allow these alleged witnesses to testify is if the government believes that these witnesses are telling the truth. Hopefully, that is not the case, because if it is, then Israelis from all parts of Israeli society, will demand a reckoning that will shake the foundations of Israel as a democracy.