Filming reality

A documentary film, “The Bibi Files,” was previewed at this month’s Toronto International Film Festival to lend urgency to popular Israeli demands for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin (“Bibi”) Netanyahu to resign so his deadly and devastating war on Gaza will end. The nearly two-hour, partially edited, and uncut film directed by award winning South African director Alexis Bloom and produced by veteran Alex Gibney publishes for the first time recorded footage from 2016-2018 police interrogations of Netanyahu, his wife, son, and witnesses on charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust.

Israeli politicians and commentators contend that Netanyahu is waging the war to delay his trial and evade prosecution for these crimes which, if he is convicted, could lead to jail time and fines. He has alienated the majority of Israelis by giving priority to continuing the war on Gaza instead of agreeing to a ceasefire and exchanging Israel’s hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

He clings to office although he is blamed by many Israelis for allowing external funds to flow to Hamas with the aim of undermining the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. He is also accused of failing to prevent the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th and win the Gaza war.

Bloom told Variety entertainment magazine,” Our work in this film was to link these interrogations and the corruption trial to everything that comes afterwards.” She began work on the film during the clash between Netanyahu and the Israeli public over his plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary to prevent impeachment of politicians. Mass protests began nine months before the October 7th attacks which launched the Gaza war.

“You can see that worldwide, the democratic backsliding. You see parallels with what’s going on here, in Hungary, in Russia. This is strongman syndrome. That’s what interested me,” Bloom declared to the audience at the film’s first showing,

“These recordings shed light on Netanyahu’s character in a way that is unprecedented and extraordinary. They are powerful evidence of his venal and corrupt character and how that led us to where we are at right now,” Gibney stated in the Variety article. He also revealed that the recordings were leaked to him early last year. Commenting on the timing of the film’s release, he said, “We felt it was important, and frankly, our duty as world citizens to make our story known as soon as possible because people are dying every day.”

Netanyahu failed to block the Toronto screening, but the film cannot be shown in Israel unless he agrees to the use of the interrogations. After it was announced that the film could soon leak to Israelis via the Telegram website which was planning to provide a platform for the film, the channel withdrew the post for fear of lawsuits.

There are three separate cases against Netanyahu. In the first, Netanyahu allegedly received expensive cigars ($1,100 a box) and pink champagne with a total value of $195,000 and more than 3,000 in jewellery for his wife Sara from Israeli filmmaker Amnon Michan and his friend Australian media billionaire James Packer. In return, Netanyahu is said to have asked then US Secretary of State John Kerry to help Michan obtain a US visa. Netanyahu later allegedly intervened with the communications minister to aid Michan in a business matter.

The second case is over Netanyahu’s reported appeal for positive coverage from Arnon Mozes, owner of Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth, in exchange for imposing restrictions on competitor Israel Hayom, the most widely distributed daily which is free. Mozes allegedly wanted Netanyahu to outlaw free newspapers.

The owner of Israel Hayom is US-Israeli dual citizen Miriam Adelson (wife of the late US casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson a major donor to Israel). She said the Netanyahus’ avidity for constant, laudatory coverage had soured relations with the Adelsons at the time Netanyahu approached Mozes.

Miriam Adelson told The Times of Israel, “At first she [Sara Netanyahu] was very nice. Impressive. An intelligent woman. And after that I don’t know what she was. You ask her what she expected from us.” But eventually, there were “only complaints” from both Netanyahus.

In the third case, Netanyahu allegedly asked for positive coverage by news website Walla in exchange for promoting regulations favourable to the Bezeq communications conglomerate headed by Shaul Elovitch who owns Walla. This is seen as the most serious of the three cases.

The testimonies of Michan, Mozes, Elovitch, and the Adelsons have been shown in the film. Israeli journalist Raviv Drucker and former internal intelligence Shin Bet head Ami Ayalon and friends and associates who know Netanyahu well have acted as narrators. Ayalon said that Netanyahu’s criminal cases have compromised the country’s ability to respond to challenges from its enemies.

The Toronto International Film Festival website said the documentary opens with footage of an angry Sara Netanyahu who rejects the evidence against her husband and herself as “utter and complete bullshit.” During questioning, Netanyahu relied on, “I don’t remember,” when quizzed about allegations. Their son Yair, podcaster, political activist, and ardent defender of his father reportedly abused the police by comparing them to the East German Stasi secret police and Nazi Germany’s Gestapo.

The Netanyahus cannot simply dismiss the Bloom-Gibney duo as being of no account. Bloom has made a number of films on apartheid South Africa. She directed politically sensitive “Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes,” a Republican party and presidential adviser and head of Fox News who was dismissed for sexual harassment of women employees. She also co-produced with Gibney and Marc Shmuger “We Steal Secrets,” a documentary on the founding of WikiLeaks by Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning. Bloom has previously reported on the West Bank and Israel.

Twenty-four years ago, “Esquire” magazine said Gibney, now 70, “is becoming the most important documentarian of our time.” He is certainly the most prolific as he has directed or produced dozens of documentary films and has has won an Oscar and an Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Photo: TNS