Coincidence is often a hook that links seemingly unrelated events.
Thus, it is an interesting coincidence that the screening of the controversial Israeli documentary NAZA in Venice and later in New York took place in the same year as the 40th anniversary of Mordechai Vanunu’s revelation that the textile factory in Dimona was actually a nuclear plant.
Some people have called for the arrest of filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. The two have received death threats, and it has also been suggested that they be executed as traitors.
Another somewhat milder suggestion was that they be deprived of citizenship.
Both the IDF and the government, from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu downward, have vehemently denied any charges of genocide reportedly expressed in the documentary, and by and large, the Israeli public wants to believe these denials.
Generally speaking, no one wants to hear of evil deeds perpetrated by their government or their army.
Vanunu, a nuclear technician and peace activist, provided the truth behind a persistent but, until 1986, unproven rumor that Israel had nuclear capability.
1986 started well for Israel, with Natan Sharansky’s release in February from a Soviet prison where he had spent nine years. But on October 5, the situation soured.
Israel’s nuclear facility was revealed by the British newspaper The Sunday Times and became a subject of public knowledge. Later that month, Israeli flight navigator Ron Arad was captured by the Amal Movement, the Lebanese Shi’ite militia.
All traces of him have since disappeared, but his comrades continue to search for him.
As for Vanunu, he is paying a lifetime price for having revealed one of Israel’s most classified secrets.
Israel was not engaged in a war in 1986, but Vanunu, who will turn 74 next month, was sentenced to 18 years in prison, of which 11 were in solitary confinement.
On his release, he was forbidden to leave Israel or give interviews to foreign journalists. In other words, he was denied two democratic freedoms.
He occasionally spoke to foreign journalists but was arrested each time and sentenced to several months in prison for telling the truth or voicing his opinion.
Israel has come a long way scientifically and technologically since then.
What more can Vanunu expose about the period leading up to 1986? He has paid whatever debt, if any, he owed to society. Why is he still being punished? He didn’t kill anyone; his revelation was designed to prevent the killing of innocent people.
Few Israelis have seen NAZA, and most are unlikely to, because it will not be screened in Israel – unless there is a change of government, or with the possible exception of illegal screenings in underground film clubs.
That being the case, Israeli opinions are largely voiced on hearsay about the contents of the film. But all the hearsay, whether for or against, refers to the former IDF officers, soldiers, and intelligence personnel who speak about the needless killings of innocent Gazans.
Between knowing and not knowing
Of course there are people who believe that there are no innocent Gazans and that all are part of the Hamas network.
A similar belief was held after World War II. There were people – especially Jews – who believed that all Germans were guilty, and that those who claimed not to know were lying.
Perhaps they really didn’t know.
I base that remark on my own experience.
I live three doors from the Prime Minister’s Residence. I have been a journalist for three-quarters of my lifetime, and the most important qualification for being a journalist is curiosity.
But many things happened inside and outside the Prime Minister’s Residence that I was unaware of, and found out only later when hearing a radio news bulletin or reading a newspaper report.
Even nowadays, when the residence remains unoccupied other than by members of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), I don’t know what’s going on besides the meetings they have across the road in a huge marquee on the corner of Balfour Street and Azza Street.
I don’t go to that end of the street every day, but on Saturday mornings, on my way to synagogue, I pass the marquee, which is closed and often surrounded by iron barriers, cars, and vans, some bearing the license plates of vehicles assigned to the prime minister.
On occasion, I’ve heard a voice that sounds remarkably like his, but I could not be sure and could not discern what was being said. So I have every reason to believe those Germans who said they didn’t know what was happening to their Jewish neighbors.
On the other hand, they could not deny the antisemitic fervor that characterized Germany at the time. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels ordered the creation of antisemitic feature films which were very well received by the German public.
Among the main targets for promoting hatred and persecution of the Jews were the Rothschilds, the famous banking family whose wisdom, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy Goebbels distorted by making them responsible for Germany’s economic woes.
As for NAZA, it’s not one person’s testimony that counts. According to what has been reported, 24 people who were directly or indirectly involved spoke out on the issue of mass killing.
It’s common knowledge that on tight security matters, anyone who knows anything is there on a need-to-know basis. That being stated, it is remarkable that Abraham and Szor were able to bring 24 such people together.
What if what these people reportedly said is true? Are we all guilty because we are Israelis – even though we didn’t know?
The situation has since been exacerbated by the threat of Defense Minister Israel Katz to destroy Gaza City if Hamas takes a single Israeli hostage. Imagine how many innocent lives will be lost in such an operation.
What will it do to Israel’s image?
How many friends and allies will Israel lose?
How many people planning aliyah will change their minds?
How many Israelis will leave because they do not want to be blamed for something they abhor?