Kommentarer till filmen NAZA

 En som sett IDF:s agerande inifrån berättar:

The airstrikes we canceled: What NAZA leaves out

The film has it backwards: I worked with the IDF's casualty estimate system. It's a brake on civilian deaths, not a license to kill

Three years ago today, I put on my uniform.

Since then, I have served hundreds of days of reserve duty, including in the Israeli Air Force’s planning and operations directorate. Part of my job involved supporting IDF ground troops and requesting strikes. On every front of this war.

Now a film named after one of the procedures we used to minimize civilian harm and exercise self-restraint, often at the expense of military goals and while endangering our own troops, is playing in theaters around the world. It is called NAZA, the Hebrew acronym for “nezek agavi.” Collateral damage.

The film gets that procedure backwards.

I want to tell you what NAZA is. From the inside.

A brake, not a license

Here is how it works.

A unit on the ground asks for a strike. Before anything flies, someone has to answer a question: how many civilians are near this target and is the military need worth the risk to them?

That answer is the NAZA.

It is not a quota. It is not a kill count. It is a brake. It’s a constraint.

When the number is high, the munition gets smaller. The angle changes. The timing moves. A warning goes out. Or – in many cases – the strike is called off entirely.

The funnel

A strike is not one decision by one person. It is a funnel.

First comes the request. Then initial planning. Then collateral-damage clearance. Munitions planning. Approval by a senior commander, with military legal advisers and international law experts in the process. Then the aircrew, who make the final call.

At every stage, a strike can get nixed. Many do.

The word came first

Throughout the past three years, I took part in a civilian initiative that tracked how the war was playing out on social media. We kept a heat map of the words that came up again and again in tweets, posts and videos.

Within days of October 7, while we were still clearing Hamas gunmen out of our kibbutzim and fields and before our ground forces had entered Gaza, the word “genocide” was already being sprayed across social media. It started small. Then the term grew bigger every week as it was mentioned more and amplified over and over. The verdict arrived before the evidence.

I saw how the claim that Israel is committing genocide came instantly and reflexively and finally ballooned into an automatic truth. A word repeated often enough begins to sound like a finding. Commissions and advocacy groups – hostile to Israel to begin with – eagerly adopted it, providing it with a tinge of legitimacy.

Journalist från Times of Israel fick se filmen NAZA:

NAZA’s claims about IDF conduct in Gaza are grave. So are the film’s journalistic flaws

The documentary draws on 24 alleged whistleblowers, but the explosive allegations, assembled to serve a narrative that Israel paid no heed to civilian deaths, suffer from questionable sourcing and deficient investigative rigor

- The 80-minute film, produced by the British newspaper The Guardian, does not, however, include key elements typically associated with investigative journalism, including independent verification of testimony or contextual information. The filmmakers did not give the subject of the allegations — in this case, the Israel Defense Forces — an opportunity to respond before publication, a standard practice.

- The film tries to present its allegations as factual claims, but omits verification and context, and raises questions about its sourcing.

- The film features interviews with 24 people identified by the filmmakers as “Israeli soldiers involved in the remote mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” who spoke on condition that their identities be protected.

The number of interviewees could give the allegations additional weight were they all corroborative. But the testimonies, contrary to the filmmakers’ claims, cover a variety of different subjects.

- The film generally does not provide information about speakers that identifies their proximity to the subjects they discuss, which would establish them as authorities while protecting their anonymity. For most, no age, pseudonym, or military role is provided, and because the interviewees are anonymized and their voices digitally altered to protect their identities, it makes it difficult at times to distinguish between speakers as the film cuts between interviews.

- The film’s subtitles also contain apparent translation issues, including adding words not present in the spoken testimony. For example, a soldier’s comment that “Ahmad and his entire family” are in a home, is subtitled as “Ahmad and his entire family will die.” A speaker’s claim that “There was an approval of, like, 500 for a single person,” becomes the more definitive “There was approval once to kill 500 for one human target” in the subtitles.

IDF svarar:

IDF gives rejection of 'NAZA' film claims, disputes civilian death ratios, AI targeting abuse

The IDF on Thursday gave its first comprehensive and detailed response and rejection of the NAZA film's claims that Israel committed genocide during the Gaza war.

According to the IDF, its delayed response stemmed from the NAZA filmmakers neither providing advance notice of the claims nor allowing it to see the movie until recent days.

Artiklar om 7 oktober

 ‘We’re not breaking’: The untold heroics of the female fighters who held off Hamas at Sufa

In her new book, ‘Israel’s Women Warriors,’ ToI correspondent Tal Schneider tells the stories of women who played an outsized yet largely unsung role in defending Israel during the October 7, 2023, terrorist onslaught. In this exclusive excerpt translated into English, Or Ben-Yehuda of the mixed-gender Caracal Battalion takes control as an army outpost is overrun, with the fates of fellow soldiers, and several communities, on the line

“One jeep broke toward the dining hall. I went in on foot. How naive I was at that stage. It was almost 9 a.m. Until then I hadn’t seen the terrorists with my own eyes, and suddenly, inside the outpost, they were standing right in front of me.”

— Lt. Col. Or Ben-Yehuda, commander of the Caracal Battalion

The October 7 battle for Sderot still rages in the minds of its survivors

Residents of embattled Gaza border city recall moments when Hamas terrorists invaded, gunning people down in the street, but vow to stay in their hometown

‘A deep scar’: Three years on, this Israeli first responder cannot escape October 7

Israeli rescuer Natan Kenig says it does not take much of a trigger for him to relive the October 7, 2023, attack: his eyes open or closed, at home or out with friends, he still sees the rockets, torched cars and lifeless bodies.

“I saw atrocities. The most terrible things in the world,” he said.

Three years after Hamas led the deadliest terror attack ever against Israel, Kenig, like so much of the country, remains traumatized. The flashbacks come daily, to the point that he has needed to see a therapist.

Newly released recordings shed light on final hours of Amit Mann, hero paramedic killed on Oct. 7

Newly released recordings reveal the final hours of Amit Mann, a Magen David Adom paramedic and paramedic course instructor, who was murdered on October 7, 2023, by terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri, as she desperately tried to save victims of the attack and herself.

IDF chief honors officer whose Hamas invasion warnings were ignored by her superiors

During the conference, Zamir presented a certificate of appreciation to Chief Warrant Officer “Vav,” a member of the signals intelligence Unit 8200 — identified only by her first initial in Hebrew — who warned before October 7, 2023, that Hamas had a clear plan in place to attack Israel. Senior intelligence officers had dismissed and ignored her warnings.

“Vav” warned in an email sent to a number of IDF officers in the days leading up to the deadly Hamas terror assault that “the sword is coming,” and urged them to “warn the people” while there was still time.

After three years of war, Israeli kids bear the brunt of still-rising mental toll

New PTSD diagnoses across Israel’s population doubled the year after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terror onslaught and continued to rise throughout the three years of war, according to a report published Sunday by Clalit Health Services, Israel’s largest health fund.

October 7: What I wrote then, and what I know now

What I got right then, I think, was the unity. I wrote that it took a war for us to find it, and I hoped it would last after victory. I will be honest: outside the army, it has frayed. In moments of respite, the noise of the world comes in, and the contrast with the camaraderie inside our ranks hurts. But I have also seen what holds when it counts. Religious and secular, left and right, new immigrants and sabras, Jewish and non-Jewish stand shoulder to shoulder, and no one asks how you vote when someone is bleeding.

What I did not understand then, perhaps, was that the fighting would not be the hardest part. The hardest part has been the waiting, the funerals, and the world’s hate and indifference, which has often been worse than I feared. In those first weeks, I was shocked that so many would excuse, justify or even side with the murderers. Three years on, I am no longer shocked, only sadder.

What I want my non-Jewish friends to see this October 7

"There is something especially chilling about watching Jews mourn murdered families while, sometimes only blocks away, people celebrate the ideology of those responsible. That is not solidarity with Palestinians. It is not criticism of Netanyahu. And it is not a peace movement. It is pure hate. When the murder of Jews becomes something to rationalize, romanticize or celebrate, we should be willing to state exactly what is – antisemitism...

...If people cannot allow Jews even the anniversary of their massacre without turning the perpetrators into heroes and the victims into villains, the issue before us is no longer simply the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is something much older.

The world has seen it before. We should know enough by now to recognize it. 

ZAKA, de frivilliga som städade upp efter massakern 7 oktober

 Berättelser om hur de som  såg det hemska som hände den 7 oktober traumatiserades

Facing October 7th

On October 7th, 2023, over 1,200 people were murdered across 22 communities in southern Israel. It was the deadliest day in Israel's history.

Hundreds of ZAKA volunteers were among the first to respond.

The largest mass casualty terrorist attack in Israel's history demanded the largest volunteer mobilization ZAKA has ever undertaken.

The cost in human trauma cannot be measured. Many who responded that day are still living with what they witnessed.

Intervju med Gadi Eisenkot som utmanar Netanyahu i parlamentsvalet

Om man vill förstå parlamentsvalet i Israel kan man börja med att läsa intervjun med Gadi Eisenkot som för tillfället leder i opinionsmätningarna.

Bereaved by war, determined to heal, protect and revive Israel: Gadi Eisenkot’s prime ministerial mission

In an impassioned interview with The Times of Israel, the opposition frontrunner explains why he stayed in politics after his son was killed in Gaza, how he would safeguard Israel and return it to the community of nations, and why Netanyahu, the PM of Oct. 7, must be sent home

Abbas lögner till FN

Abbas till FN:

PA’s Abbas at UN: Israel trying to force Palestinians out with ‘genocidal war,’ ‘settler terrorism’

Abbas also stressed his rejection of terrorism and antisemitism during his speech.

“On behalf of the State of Palestine, I renew the commitments in which we believe: We want security and peace for all. We reject attacks against civilians by any party. We reject terrorism and extremism in all their forms. We combat antisemitism, racism and hatred. And we believe in a culture of peace, dialogue and coexistence,” Abbas said.

Abbas på hemmaplan:

 PA: Israel is "state of Satan on earth"

-Israelis – "the foreigners" – "will go to Hell, the land will remain Palestinian, Arab, and Islamic" - Fatah spokesman

- Israel is "the state of Satan on earth… they will be defeated and sent to Hell" – Egyptian cleric on official PA TV

- Genealogy of the Jews: "Evil is their father, oppression is their mother, betrayal is their brother, injustice is their sister" – official PA TV

 - Israelis/Jews have a "hate-filled nature," they are "barbaric, blood lusting and racist, shameless, immoral, inhuman, and conscienceless" – columnist of official PA daily

- Israelis "murder children in their sweet sleep… set fire to the clothes of mothers who have just given birth to their babies" – columnist of official PA daily

- World literature proves Jews are bad and "traitors" – columnist of official PA daily

Lögnen om folkmord motsägs av experter

 Israel anklagas dagligen för folkmord - oftast av människor som inte vet vad som är kriterierna för folkmord men också av sådana som borde veta bättre.

Här en artikel om det öppna brev med över 6000 underskrifter, många av dem experter på området, som säger att anklagelserna om  folkmord är en lögn.

Prominent scholars, legal experts among 6,000 signatories to letter rejecting Gaza genocide charge

“The bitter irony is that Israel, home to half the world’s Jews, is the only country to face a sustained war of attempted genocide – from its inception in 1948 until today,” the letter states.

Framstående akademiker, juridiska experter och historiker finns bland de drygt 6 000 personer som undertecknat ett öppet brev – offentliggjort tidigare denna månad – där anklagelsen om att Israel begått folkmord i Gaza avfärdas som en ”blodsanklagelse”. Brevet, som vid lanseringen hade fler än 5 000 undertecknare och senare passerade 6 000, gör gällande att anklagelsen om folkmord motsägs av Israels faktiska agerande i kriget och att den har utnyttjats som en förevändning för att utesluta och angripa judar världen över.

Prominent scholars who signed the letter include Harvard professor and public intellectual Steven Pinker. Other Harvard-affiliated signatories include Harvard Law professor Jesse Fried and visiting scholar Anat Alon-Beck, a professor of law at Case Western Reserve University.

Other notable scholars who signed on include historian Niall Ferguson, Israeli historian Benny Morris, Holocaust historian and former US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt, Tel Aviv University professor emerita and former Yad Vashem chief historian Dina Porat, historian and author Simon Sebag Montefiore, UCLA professor Judea Pearl, and Brandeis University professor emeritus Jonathan Sarna.

Prominent legal figures include former Canadian justice minister and attorney general Irwin Cotler, Cornell Law professor Robert Hockett, Jeffrey Mausner, a former prosecutor with the US Justice Department’s Nazi War Crimes Unit, and Eugene Kontorovich, a professor of law at George Mason University’s Scalia Law School and director of its Center for the Middle East and International Law.

“The genocide libel is a case study in the longstanding – and intensified post-October 7th – historical, moral, legal and normative inversions of fact, law and history,” Cotler said in a statement cited by CCFP.

Political signatories include former UK prime minister Boris Johnson, Iraqi-born former UK cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi, and former US secretary of veterans affairs Robert Wilkie, among others.

Netanyahus tal i FN och analys

Premiärminister Netanyahu höll sitt tal till FN:s generalförsamling senaste torsdag. Här finns hans tal, en kommentar och en analys från Times of Israel.

Bl.a de muslimska staterna avlägsnade sig från salen inför Netanyahus tal. Men det kanske man kan ta som en hedersbetygelse. Om de inte klarar av att höra vad man har att säga så har man antagligen något viktigt att säga.

Netanyahus tal var naturligtvis också en del av valkampanjen inför parlamentsvalet om några veckor.

Om man vill säga något negativt kan man säga att en stor ledare skulle ha erkänt att de judiska extremister som attackerar palestinierna är ett verkligt problem som myndigheterna inte lyckats förhindra. Det gjorde han inte, tvärtom förringade han deras verksamhet och det är inget som hedrar honom.

Han påpekade att terrorn från palestinierna som riktas mot judarna är mycket mer omfattande och allvarligare, vilket är sant. Naturligtvis måste det vara oerhört frustrerande att omvärlden knappt bryr sig om terrorn som kommer från palestinierna och som belönas av de palestinska ledarna medan terror från judiska extremister får stor uppmärksamhet. Men Israel skall inte jämföra sig med palestinska myndighetens agerande som domineras av gamla och nya terroristledare. Israel har hittills haft och har förhoppningsvis också i framtiden en helt annan moralisk kompass.

 Netanyahu’s UN speech: Israel prevented ‘the genocide Mamdani’s Hamas buddies would have done to us’

PM slams Gaza genocide accusation as ‘lie of the century,’ denounces Qatar for spending billions to ‘brainwash young minds’ to hate Israel and US, insists evil Iranian regime will fall

David Horovitz, Times of Israel kommenterar talet:

Netanyahu’s strong defense of Israel unlikely to sway critics abroad. Will it move voters at home? 

Av nödvändighet  satsade han hårt på att bemöta den avskyvärda anklagelsen om att Israel har begått – eller försökt begå – folkmord i Gazaremsan sedan tusentals Hamasledda terrorister invaderade Israel, slaktade omkring 1 200 människor och förde bort 251 personer den 7 oktober 2023.

Han riktade sin mest slagkraftiga formulering i sammanhanget – med dess svidande och obestridliga träffsäkerhet – mot borgmästaren i staden där han talade: ”Här är den enkla sanningen. Israel begick inte folkmord. Israel förhindrade folkmord.”

En premiärminister som lever för ögonblick som det i FN:s talarstol i torsdags hoppas att åtminstone några i den globala publiken stannade upp och tänkte till. Lika viktigt – eller viktigare – för honom är förhoppningen att hans oklanderliga engelska, hans förmåga att hantera den internationella uppmärksamheten och hans medryckande tal om seger, motståndskraft och ett evigt Israel ska ha lockat åtminstone en liten del ytterligare av väljarkåren till hans sida.

Faktum är att en stor del av världen har slutat lyssna, vilket är mer än tragiskt eftersom den behöver höra så mycket av vad han hade att säga.

What Netanyahu didn’t say at the UN was as telling as what he did (TOI)

NEW YORK — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 15th address to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday was in some ways a classic Bibi presentation.

He railed against antisemitism, blasted what he characterized as the moral fecklessness of European leaders, and came equipped with not one, but two props for his performance — a beeper to taunt Hezbollah for the stunning September 2024 exploding pagers and walkie-talkies operation, and a Starlink internet terminal to needle and shame the Iranian regime over its silencing of its own people.

At the same time, there were surprising omissions from the address, omissions that reinforce the sense that Israel does not have a clear and viable plan right now for countering the central threat to its national security: Iran’s nuclear weapons program, its ballistic missiles, and its rapacious, tenacious regime.