'NAZA' Documentary on IDF's 'Lavender' AI Targeting System Gets Record 25-Minute Ovation at Venice

An 80-minute Israeli-made documentary titled 'NAZA,' directed by Oscar-winners Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor ('No Other Land'), premiered at the Venice Film Festival and received what organizers described as the longest ovation in the festival's history -- roughly 25 minutes, surpassing the 23-minute, 50-second reception for another Gaza-set film the previous year. Built on nearly three years of research and testimony from 24 anonymous Israeli military and intelligence whistleblowers, the film details an AI-assisted targeting system known as 'Lavender' that Israel's Unit 8200 used to mine Gaza's mass-surveilled telecommunications network -- phone calls, movements and social connections -- to generate assassination targets. One interviewee said targeting was 'done on a mass scale, like a factory'; others alleged personnel 'witnessed with their own eyes and ears' that flagged homes were filled with families. The IDF said it 'categorically rejects' the film's allegations, stating that 'decisions regarding the selection and approval of strikes were made by human personnel only... and not by artificial intelligence.' Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called the documentary a 'blood libel,' arguing Israel's house-to-house combat approach contradicts claims of intentional civilian killing.