Israeli Culture Minister Zohar Threatens to Strip Oscar-Winning Documentary Directors of Citizenship

Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar threatened to strip the directors of Oscar-winning documentary 'NAZA' — Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor — of their citizenship over the film, which documents civilians killed in Israeli military operations in Gaza. According to reports, Zohar characterized the documentary as a propaganda operation against Israel.

The wire service did not detail the legal basis for Zohar's threat or at what stage a citizenship revocation procedure in Israel could be invoked. It therefore remains unclear at this point whether the threat constitutes an actual punitive measure or a political pressure statement.

Yuval Abraham directly criticized Israel's Gaza policy during his award acceptance speech at the Berlin Film Festival last year, a stance that drew sharp backlash in Israeli public discourse. 'NAZA', which combines interviews with Israeli soldiers deployed in Gaza with footage documenting civilian casualties, had already become a point of contention in Israeli politics even before its release.