There wasn't one betrayal. There were a thousand betrayals
Dr. Zvi Elhayani argues that the film "Naz'a" reopens the question of betrayal as a national and moral concept, challenging the distinction between political disagreement and a breach of loyalty to the idea of the Jewish state. The article criticizes the use of terms like "political stance" or "cinematic work" as a shield against the question of loyalty, asserting that there wasn't one betrayal but countless small and large betrayals over the years.
Dr. Zvi Elhayani, an architect and member of the Professors for National Resilience Forum, argues in his article that the film "Naz'a" reopens the question of betrayal as a national and moral concept, after it was pushed to the margins of public discourse since the Simchat Torah massacre. The article criticizes the common distinction between political disagreement and a breach of loyalty to the idea of the Jewish state, asserting that there wasn't one betrayal but countless small and large betrayals over the years. Elhayani quotes Culture Minister Miki Zohar's reservation in his letter to the Shin Bet chief, clarifying that this is not an investigation of a political stance or cinematic work, and argues that this very reservation is instructive. The article posits that the language meant to protect disagreement may become a refuge from the very question of loyalty, and that the debate surrounding the film touches on a deeper question: what is loyalty and to whom is it owed. Elhayani concludes with a call for national soul-searching, stating that the real question is not just who betrayed on one morning of October 7, but how many times over nearly eighty years we have agreed to call betrayal of the Jewish idea by the laundered name "political disagreement".