The AI apocalypse and the ‘NAZA’ blood libels against Israel

A new documentary film titled “NAZA,” co-produced by The Guardian and Israeli journalists Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, premiered at the Venice Film Festival to a 25-minute standing ovation. The film alleges that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) used an AI system called “Lavender” to expedite airstrikes in Gaza with high expectations of civilian casualties, aiming to bolster claims of Israeli “genocide.” The article criticizes the film for lacking crucial context, such as Hamas’s role in using civilians as human shields and deliberately locating military infrastructure in civilian areas. Raviv Drucker of Israel TV’s Channel 13, despite his left-wing views, noted the film’s omissions, stating, “At one point, Hamas’s use of civilians as human shields comes up, only to be sharply dismissed.” The article argues that the film's purpose is to demonize Israelis and their army, ignoring the complexities of the conflict and the IDF's efforts to minimize civilian casualties, which it asserts are exemplary compared to other modern armies in urban warfare.