Kenneth Glad
Art can strike a sensitive nerve. When that happens, the backlash is rarely quiet. Most fights happen in courtrooms, but modern political battles live deep in the digital shadows. One new tactic simply builds a fake copy to confuse everyone.
The Israeli government is pushing a new online film. It copies the visual style of the praised documentary, NAZA. The original movie investigates how the military uses artificial intelligence to target people in Gaza.
That original film won big at the Venice international film festival, reports The Guardian. But the new version wants to shift the narrative.
An Israeli army reservist created the copycat project. He called his work an “offensive move” meant to distract the world from claims about civilian deaths.
Changing the story
The site in question, nazadocumentary.com, hosts a short online film titled NAZA: The Real Story. Created by Israeli army reservist Ariel Averbuch and right-wing political candidate Roi Danino, the project mimics the genuine documentary’s visual style, including night-time rooftop interviews in Tel Aviv.
At first, the web page falsely presented itself as the official promo platform for the original film. It listed Oscar-winning directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor while distorting the movie’s official synopsis to erase any mention of Palestinian civilian deaths.
Once the rival video went live, the site removed the directors’ names. It then displayed a view counter claiming over 42 million views, compared to roughly 30,000 on YouTube. Technical analysis indicated automated bots likely drove those numbers, though Averbuch referred metric queries to his tech team.
Despite these discrepancies, Israeli embassies actively shared the link on social media. Officials stated they wanted to “amplify the message of its creators and expose wider audiences to arguments challenging and dismantling the blood libels and false allegations”, The Guardian writes.
Heavy threats follow
The British newspaper produced the original documentary. A spokesperson called the rival website a “brazen attempt to mislead audiences and distract from the urgent questions raised by NAZA.”
Meanwhile, the real filmmakers face severe legal and personal pressure. Israel’s Ministry of Culture has launched a formal investigation into the project, while government officials called to strip directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor of their citizenship.
Military chief Eyal Zamir warned forces will use “every tool at our disposal” against the film, backed by a 10-page military rebuttal. Far-right activists have gathered outside family homes demanding the death penalty, while a mural in Ashdod depicted the directors in sniper sights. Activist Mordechai David even launched a crowdfunded campaign to chase Abraham.
Hiding the systems
Co-director Rachel Szor addressed the growing backlash during a Q&A after the film’s New York premiere. She did not hold back when discussing the secrecy surrounding military targeting technology.
“Our country is doing so much to hide these systems,” she said, according to The Guardian. “It’s not a world that is open even to the Israeli public.”
At the London Film Festival, producer James Wilson described a “hysterical, vituperative, aggressive backlash” from political leaders. He noted that while the team expected displeasure, they never anticipated treason charges, state-level aggression, or open rabble-rousing.
Even so, the team continues to focus on international support. “I try to look at the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the film in the majority of the world,” Wilson said.
Sources: The Guardian, nazadocumentary.com
