NAZA, the money trail, and what the film leaves out about October 7 - opinion

David Ben-Basat scrutinizes the documentary 'NAZA,' which won the Venice Special Jury Prize and accuses Israel of calculated mass killing in Gaza. The piece traces funding from Open Society Foundations to +972 Magazine and Local Call, whose investigations the film relies on. Ben-Basat argues the film omits the October 7 massacre and compresses a complex battlefield into a simplistic accusation.

David Ben-Basat's opinion piece scrutinizes the documentary 'NAZA,' directed by Israelis Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, which won the Venice Special Jury Prize and received a nearly 25-minute standing ovation. The film accuses Israel of 'calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,' relying on 24 anonymous Israeli military and intelligence personnel whose identities are concealed. Ben-Basat traces the financial trail: +972 Magazine and Local Call, whose investigations the film draws on, received $562,900 in grants from Open Society Foundations between 2018 and 2024. Open Society was founded by George Soros, who has given it over $32 billion. The piece notes Open Society's public positions on the war, including condemning Hamas's October 7 attack while calling Israel's campaign 'increasingly indiscriminate.' Ben-Basat argues the film omits the October 7 massacre, in which Hamas killed about 1,200 people and abducted around 250, and compresses a complex battlefield into a simplistic accusation that civilian deaths prove intent to kill. He calls for Israel to respond with truth rather than censorship.