From Israel: Still a Damn Tough Haul!!

Arlene Kushner | September 15, 2026

Screengrab via Youtube

The two days of Rosh Hashanah have passed – quietly, I note with great gratitude. Always, there is deep concern about the potential for terror attacks on our holy days.

My own thoughts and prayers during the holiday focused on Israel – on our security, on a future that finds us thriving and victorious, on a time that leads past pain and sadness.

On the second day, the Haftarah (prophetic reading after the Torah reading) is from Jeremiah (31:1-19). And verses such as these were read:

“I will turn their mourning into gladness;
I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow (31:12)”

These are words of solace from the most austere of prophets, promises for us to embrace gratefully. But as we are buoyed by the reassurance they provide, we – each of us!! – must still ask how we might best hasten the days of gladness. There are many tasks still before us.

I had hoped to begin by looking at positive accomplishments and promising signs – and indeed they do exist. But as I consider the broader situation, I realize that first must come a hard look at some of the attacks we are under. They cannot pass unexamined or without adequate retort.

We are being vilified from a number of quarters, and those attacks, those libels, cannot be ignored.

Please inform yourselves, drawing on the information that follows, and share it as broadly as you can. This is a service to Israel.

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Today we look at an absolute outrage, an alleged “documentary”, directed by two Israelis, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.

The film is entitled “NAZA.” This is a legitimate Hebrew acronym for “collateral damage,” but it has been suggested that perhaps its creators, when deciding upon this title, subliminally recognized it’s similarity to “NAZI.”

It won a Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday. The entire film is not yet available for public viewing, but promotional material has been released. The charge of the documentary is that IDF operations in Gaza have resulted in mass civilian casualties, casualties inflicted intentionally. Reportedly, this received a standing ovation of extended duration. Oh, the crowd loved it.

The documentary is based on the interviews of 24 alleged Israeli soldiers and officers, who were supposedly involved with planning and operations in Gaza during the war. According to the filmmakers, some of those interviewed describe their experiences as involvement in “war crimes and genocide.”

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The charges voiced in this documentary have been categorically denied by the IDF Spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin.

Defrin said that the film “relies on anonymous testimonies from individuals whose identity cannot be verified” including whether they actually served in the IDF, and if so “in what capacity, or whether they were involved in the matters about which the allegations are being made.” (Emphasis added)

The IDF charged that the documentary included claims regarding national and military strategy that were “clearly beyond the knowledge of junior-level soldiers,” and said it contained references to situations in which IDF Intelligence Directorate soldiers allegedly interviewed for the film “by definition would not have been involved.”

See more about the IDF statement:

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/433103

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IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Monday held a consultation with relevant staff regarding the film and followed with a statement:

“Based on what has been published thus far, this is not a film offering criticism of the IDF, nor is it an attempt to establish the truth. It is based on blood libels, deliberate distortions of reality, and grave, false accusations against IDF soldiers and commanders.

“This is an attack on the State of Israel, not only on the IDF. It adopts the narratives of those who hate Israel, it defames our soldiers and commanders, and seeks to portray the IDF as deliberately acting unlawfully…”

…the film represents “a dangerous attempt to deny us the legitimacy to defend ourselves against the worst of our enemies-and, in doing so, to place IDF soldiers and commanders at genuine risk…

“We will not allow IDF soldiers to be made targets through lies and blood libels.” (Emphasis added)

Zamir has called for the establishment of a multi-agency, multidisciplinary team that will formulate courses of action for addressing false allegations against the IDF and its soldiers. He instructed the Military Advocate General to advance possible legal measures concerning the film and those involved in it. There is a possible security aspect to this situation.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/433143

Zamir’s proposal is critically important, but whether, in and of itself, it will be sufficient is another matter.

What is being called for is action by our government to speedily provide detailed factual evidence of Israel’s moral stance in battle to journalists, government officials and influencers. The libel spreads quickly and most be countered before it has been broadly accepted as truth.

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Benny Gantz, who currently chairs the Blue and White party, attacked the film in scathing terms:

“As a former IDF Chief of Staff and Defense Minister, I state unequivocally: IDF soldiers and commanders are among the most moral, humane and principled fighters in the world. How do I know? Because I was there. I know the IDF’s operations in Gaza in detail – before October 7, and even more so afterward.

“You have to be a liar to portray Israel as deliberately carrying out killings in Gaza. No army in the world has fought in an urban environment while maintaining the purity of arms as the IDF has.”

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/433105

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What Gantz said about IDF purity of arms is absolutely true.

And so I want to segue here to comments by John Spencer, one of the world’s leading experts on urban warfare, who chairs urban warfare studies at West Point.

On January 24, 2025, he spoke in a podcast for Middle East Forum. A MEF summary of his comments (all emphasis added):

Hamas prepared in its urban terrain for defense [for] over two decades. This is historically very unique as enemies in an urban terrain typically have little time to prepare. Hamas had 20 years to militarize most Gazan houses with “caches or house-borne IEDs or sniper positions.”

…In violation of the rules of war, Hamas uses a “human shield strategy” that puts civilians “in front of you so the enemy can’t attack you.” Using civilians and protected sites for military purposes “complicates the operations.” Hamas goes even further by using “a human sacrifice strategy,” stating it “needs civilians to die” and denying the population’s access to the protective tunnels that are for Hamas’s exclusive use.

“Israel’s civilian-to-combatant ratio is still historically low…Israel has done more and implemented more measures to prevent civilian harm than any military in the history of urban warfare.” Israel’s evacuation of Gazan cities, its limited use of force, and its distribution of maps “to communicate with the civilians” were all actions taken to minimize civilian casualties. Despite these measures, media and Hamas advocates “try to portray some type of illegality” by taking the numbers out of context to malign Israel. “It’s really essential that people understand that these are just forms of lies, damn lies, and statistics.”

…The IDF’s performance in Gaza, its capabilities and actions, “absolutely is a moral, ethical, disciplined force achieving unique things in the most complex urban scenario that any military has faced in modern history.”

https://www.meforum.org/podcasts/john-spencer-on-israels-urban-war-in-gaza-a-technical-analysis

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Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar on Sunday evening announced that was going to work to revoke the citizenship of the filmmakers over what he called “treason against the state.”

“The burning self-hatred of the creators, who are willing to harm their homeland in order to receive applause from antisemites around the world, is a betrayal of the state. I will act to revoke the citizenship of these contemptible creators.”

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/433100

Treason it is, and I would see them prosecuted and imprisoned. Libelous criticism by the world is one thing, but when it is Israelis presenting the libels, it burns far worse.

But it is unlikely that they will be prosecuted. And we have no certainty that their citizenship will be revoked. One commentator observed that this might make martyrs of them and bring them even more praise from the left.

We won’t belabor the issue of why the filmmakers did this. Best understanding, although likely an incomplete one, is that they are seeking accolades within a segment of the world entertainment community that is virulently anti-Israel and so they play the game in order to succeed. How they live with themselves is another story.

I will put this out now, my friends, and follow with more on this issue as is appropriate. There are, of course, yet other outrages to confront.

I ask, as I always do, that you please pray. Pray hard for Israel’s strength.

©Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.

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