The NAZA documentary, which won the Special Jury Prize at the International Venice Film Festival in Italy, will be made freely and permanently accessible to everyone online during November.
Abraham, one of the film's directors, said the decision was made together with co-director Rachel Szor and production partners The Guardian. Work is also under way to make the documentary available for free screening in cinemas in Israel at the same time as it is shown in cinemas in different parts of the world.
The documentary is based on the testimonies of 24 soldiers
NAZA focuses on the testimonies of soldiers who served in the attacks on Gaza. The film, based on three years of journalistic work, features accounts from 24 soldiers.
The documentary aims to spark public debate over the Israeli government's approach that there are no innocent people in Gaza. Abraham drew attention to the attitude of denial in Israeli society over the deaths of more than 73,000 people, including many children, in the attacks on Gaza.
Backlash against the directors in Israel
In response to Abraham's post, Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar told the director: "Do not return to the country; you are not wanted here. Traitor." Israel's state broadcaster KAN also reported that Zohar had asked cinema owners not to screen the film, whether for payment or free of charge.
After the documentary won an award at the Venice Film Festival, Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir instructed military intelligence, the military prosecution and the air force to identify the soldiers who spoke in the film and determine whether they were performing mandatory service or serving as reservists.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the NAZA documentary as "anti-Semitic incitement" and announced that he would submit a bill to strip people who defame Israeli soldiers of their citizenship. On September 13, Zohar also threatened to strip directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor of their citizenship.
Dozens of far-right activists held a demonstration outside Szor's family home in the town of Savyon in central Israel. The demonstrators chanted, "Death penalty for traitors," targeting the directors.
