Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message released by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office that he would prepare two bills in response to criticism of the Israeli army.
Netanyahu listed three incidents that he said had harmed the army: Democratic Party leader Yair Golan’s statement that Israeli soldiers had killed babies in Gaza as a hobby; former Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi’s disclosure that a Palestinian detainee had been raped at the Sde Teiman Military Detention Facility; and the documentary NAZA.
Netanyahu also defended statements that the Israeli army had committed genocide in Gaza for two years, saying action would be taken to prevent the army from being defamed. Netanyahu made this assessment himself.
Citizenship and compensation provisions in the bills
One of the measures announced by Netanyahu would provide for stripping citizenship from people accused of defaming Israeli soldiers. The other bill would increase 20-fold the amount of compensation that could be sought in potential lawsuits.
Developments surrounding the NAZA documentary
The film NAZA, described as documenting Israel’s massacre of civilians in Gaza, received the Special Jury Prize at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival in Italy. The documentary sparked wide-ranging reactions in Israel.
Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir instructed military intelligence, the military prosecutor’s office and the air force to determine whether the soldiers who spoke in the film were serving their mandatory service or were reservists, and to identify them.
Netanyahu described the documentary NAZA as “anti-Semitic incitement.” Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar threatened on September 13 to strip the documentary’s directors, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, of their citizenship.
