Documentary Featuring 'Lavender' AI-Targeting Whistleblowers Premieres at Venice

An Israeli-made documentary premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 11, 2026, featuring 24 anonymous Israeli military and intelligence whistleblowers describing an AI-powered targeting system called 'Lavender' used to help identify strike targets in Gaza. Interviewees described systematic destruction of civilian homes and characterized remote operations as resembling 'a video game.' The IDF 'categorically rejected' the film's allegations, saying strike decisions 'were made by human personnel only… and not by artificial intelligence,' and questioned the anonymous interviewees' access to relevant information. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called the film a 'blood libel.'