IDF asks ‘NAZA’ filmmakers to screen documentary for military officials so it can address claims, calls allegations in trailer false

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says he invites the Israeli filmmakers of NAZA — a new documentary about allegations that Israel used AI-powered attacks in the Gaza Strip that led to civilian deaths — to allow military officials to view the film so that the IDF can respond in a “substantive manner.”

The 80-minute film by filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor — whose title is a Hebrew acronym meaning collateral damage — won a special jury prize this week at the Venice Film Festival.

“The film ‘NAZA’ has not yet been released in full, but from what can be seen in the trailer, it presents a series of serious and false claims regarding the IDF and its personnel. The claims presented in the trailer are untrue, and some are even presented in a distorted, falsified manner, disconnected from the reality on the ground,” says Defrin in a Hebrew-language post on X.

“It is important to me to emphasize that the IDF is a values-based military that operates in accordance with international law and according to binding professional values and standards. This is how we have operated throughout the past three years, and this is how we will continue to operate, even under the most complex combat conditions,” he continues.

Defrin says that “to enable a substantive, professional and fact-based discussion, rather than settling for false portrayals, I invite the filmmakers to allow IDF representatives to view the full film, so that we can address each of the claims raised in it in a substantive manner.”

“The public discussion surrounding the film should be conducted on the basis of facts — not on the basis of false portrayals and slanderous lies,” he says.

Among the film’s allegations is one, featured in a promotional video of the documentary, that it planned a strike during the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in which 500 civilian deaths had been anticipated. The IDF has denied that claim as “completely false.”

Referring to the Hamas-led 2023 attack that launched the war, Defrin adds, “Since October 7, the IDF has worked tirelessly to defend the state and its citizens.”

The IDF already on Friday said it “categorically rejects” the allegations made in the film, saying that decisions regarding the selection and approval of strikes were made “by human personnel only… and not by artificial intelligence.”

The military said that “the excerpts cited include claims regarding national and military strategy that are clearly beyond the knowledge of junior-level soldiers,” and that there are “references to situations in which IDF Intelligence Directorate soldiers, who were allegedly interviewed for the film, by definition would not have been involved.”