The New York Times removed a line from a story about the explosive documentary “NAZA,” which had “inadvertently suggested” that Israelis were not victims of the Oct. 7 attacks after fierce backlash online.
An earlier version of the story published Monday included a statement that was intended to convey Israelis’ perception of the government’s military response to the Oct. 7 terror attack in relation to the attacks. In doing so, the statement received backlash for implying that Israelis’ experience as terror victims was a matter of perception.
The statement, which has since been removed, said that “Israelis still largely view themselves as the victims of Oct. 7.”
The editors’ note reads:
“Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article included a statement that was intended to convey Israelis’ perception of the government’s military response to the Oct. 7 terror attack in relation to the attacks, but inadvertently suggested that Israelis’ experience as terror victims was a matter of perception. It has been removed from the article.”
We have added the following Editors' Note to our recent coverage of the Israeli government's reaction to the NAZA documentary: "Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article included a statement that was intended to convey Israelis’ perception of the…
— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) September 16, 2026
The story, by Israeli and Palestinian affairs reporter Isabel Kershner, detailed the push back “NAZA” has received from the Israeli military since its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival earlier this month.
IDF chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other top generals said that the film was “based on blood libels” and “deliberate distortions of reality.” Zamir instructed the Military Advocate-General, Maj.-Gen. Itay Offir to open an investigation into the documentary Tuesday.
The IDF also asked the Israel Security Agency to assist with the investigation into the film, according to an Ynet report.
The 80-minute documentary includes interviews with 24 people described as Israeli intelligence officers and soldiers, who reveal in detail “the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” according to the film’s synopsis. The interviewees remained anonymous to protect their identity in the face of potential legal consequences.
The Guardian, who co-produced the doc with Israeli directors, issued a statement on Monday saying that the publication was “disturbed to see the authoritarian response to ‘NAZA’ in Israel” and that the film was based on more than three years of investigative journalism and testimonies.
“We will robustly defend NAZA – and the team behind it – from any attacks or attempts at censorship,” the statement concluded.
The military has reportedly only seen excerpts of the documentary. They critiqued the doc for their anonymous testimonies that could not be verified. Some Israeli politicians, who opposed the right-wing government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also attacked the documentary.
“Naza is propaganda with a documentary aesthetic,” Dani Lerer, co-founder and CEO of Media Oriente, wrote on X. “A lot of emotional impact, a lot of narrative, and very little evidence. Bias, lies, and omissions in service of Palestinian terrorism.”
Directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the film received a 25-minute standing ovation in Venice, and the film also won the Special Jury Prize. “NAZA” is a Hebrew acronym for nezek agavi, or collateral damage. The film uses the word to refer to the increased number of civilians put at risk by the Israeli military attacks in Gaza.
