As hundreds of people arrived for the North American premiere of "NAZA" in Manhattan on Saturday, they were met by two Israeli-led demonstrations: one with dozens of protesters waving Israeli flags and denouncing the film, the other with a handful of people supporting the filmmakers.
"NAZA," a documentary by Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, draws on testimonies from 24 Israeli soldiers and intelligence personnel to examine what its official synopsis describes as "the systems behind Israel's calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza." The film has drawn fierce condemnation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, including threats by Netanyahu to revoke the citizenship of Abraham and Szor.
Among those who attended the premiere were New York Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander, who participated in protests opposing Netanyahu's United Nations visit earlier in the week, and Josh Binderman, the deputy director of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's Office to Combat Antisemitism.
The rival demonstrations took place outside Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, where the film screened as part of the New York Film Festival. The demonstrators offered sharply different assessments of the film.
"This movie we believe is missing a lot of parts, missing the context of what led to October 7, what happened after October 7, and mainly trying to portray Israel and the IDF as inhumane, or worse, trying to have as if it was a systematic approach to killing Palestinians," said Noa Peri-Jensch, chief communities officer of the Israeli-American Council, which organized the protest against the film. "This couldn't be further away from the truth. Israelis are peace lovers."
Peri-Jensch said she had not seen the film, claiming that "no one in Israel was allowed to watch it." Despite the film's harsh condemnation across the political spectrum, it has not been officially barred from being shown in Israel. The film's co-directors have offered it to Israeli cinemas free of charge; however, no public screenings have been organized.
The Israeli-American Council's demonstration featured signs reading "Learn the Facts. Know the Truth" alongside images of the October 7 attacks. As organizers addressed the crowd, two trucks with LED screens displayed graphic images of the attacks and messaging describing the documentary as "unverified" and "one-sided."
At one point, a man began shouting "free Palestine" at the crowd, which responded with chants of "am yisrael chai" – Hebrew for "the people of Israel live."
Dan Adler, who attended the protest with his wife, said he had not seen the film but believed it misrepresented the Israeli military and would fuel antisemitism.
"Everything being distorted, everything being inverted, Israel being made the bad guy in every situation, this is going to come out as another way of inciting against Jews," Adler said.
Rom El-Hai, a survivor of the October 7 massacre at the Nova music festival, accused the filmmakers of antisemitism and compared them to Jews who informed on other Jews to the Nazis.
"What's happened here behind us doesn't surprise me. A film full of lies, full of antisemitism, full of hatred, produced by two Israelis, Jewish Israelis – I'm really serious, it doesn't surprise me," El-Hai said. "We knew liars and traitors inside of us since the Bible. Even in the Holocaust, we had a few Jews that snitched to the Nazis about other Jews. So to be honest, another couple of liars doesn't bother me."
Gesturing to the small group of Israelis for Peace demonstrators across the street, Peri-Jensch dismissed their support for the film as unrepresentative of Israeli opinion.
"They're a minority of minority of minority, some say they are the useless idiots of America that grab onto any TikTok," Peri-Jensch said. "They are allowed to have their opinions. I wish them best of luck."
Inside Alice Tully Hall, Abraham addressed some of the criticisms the film had received during a brief Q&A following the screening.
"It's completely unjustified, the massacre of October 7th," said Abraham during the Q&A, according to Variety. "But it also cannot justify what you've seen. Does it justify the slaughter of so many civilians in Gaza?"
Abraham also emphasized the importance of screening the film in the United States, pointing to American military support for Israel.
"It's important for us to see this film at this moment, as you were saying, because these older officials are talking about what is being done with taxpayer money from people sitting here," Abraham said. "This is what your country is supporting and funding… Part of the goal is to make denial of what's going on in Gaza harder."
The Israelis for Peace demonstrators carried signs reading "Civilians must be protected in war" and "We stand by the countless victims in Gaza and Rachel & Yuval for speaking truth to power."
"I really cannot understand how all of a sudden these two people who created the movie became Israel's biggest enemy," said Roni Tamari, a member of Israelis for Peace. "For me here, I'm just hoping that people can show solidarity first and most important with the endless victims in Gaza, but also with these very two brave people, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor."
"Standing with solidarity with the people in Gaza, is the same way I stand with solidarity with the people who were attacked in Israel on Oct. 7," Tamari said. "But as an Israeli, it's very important to me because I feel day in and day out ashamed of what has been going on in Gaza, and ashamed of, unfortunately, my country and my people for doing this."
Matt Weisberg, 31, said the backlash against the documentary had prompted him to join the Israelis for Peace demonstration.
"The fact that the backlash has been on the verge of banning the film and getting rid of their citizenship is against democracy, so I want to support democracy," Weisberg said. "Whether or not I agree with a film, I think it should be shown."
Weisberg said he had no objection to the demonstration across the street, although he disagreed with the protesters' arguments.
"If they want people to talk about other issues, then sure, make your own film, and we'll talk about those issues," Weisberg said. "A lot of the issues they want us to talk about, we do talk about."
