Netanyahu calls to strip citizenship of those who 'defame' Israeli army
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for the stripping of citizenship from those who "defame" the Israeli army.
His comments reflect anger from the Israeli government over the documentary NAZA, which featured soldiers testifying to the commission of war crimes in Gaza.
Netanyahu said he would introduce two bills to Israel's parliament in a video posted on social media.
"The first would revoke the citizenship of anyone who defames [Israeli army] soldiers, and the second would hit them in the pocket by increasing twentyfold the amount in damages for which they can be sued for defamation," Netanyahu said.
"We will hit them both in the pocket and in citizenship, because they have no place among us."
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Israeli ministers have already called for NAZA directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor to lose their citizenship over the film.
'We will hit them both in the pocket and in citizenship, because they have no place among us'
- Benjamin Netanyahu
On Monday, Culture Minister Miki Zohar called the film “despicable” and said its winning of the Special Jury Prize at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on Saturday was “shocking”.
“The creators’ burning self-hatred, and their willingness to harm their homeland in order to receive applause from antisemites around the world, is beyond comprehension and constitutes a betrayal of the state,” Zohar said on X.
“I will act immediately to revoke the Israeli citizenship of these despicable creators on the grounds of treason against the state."
The film features interviews with 24 anonymised Israeli military and intelligence insiders who describe using AI-powered systems to identify targets and carry out remote bombings, often knowing that large numbers of civilians would be killed.
One military insider interviewed for the film said that, in one incident, the killing of up to 500 civilians was approved to kill a single high-value Hamas member.
The Israeli army rejected the allegations made in the film.
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