Saturday, 18 September 2021 19:46

Gatekeepers, The






THE GATEKEEPERS

Israel, 2012, 97 minutes, Colour.
Ami Ayalon, Avraham Shalom, Yaakov Peri, Carmi Gillon, Avi Dichter, Yuval Diskin
Heads of Shin Bet.
Directed by Dror Moreh.

The gatekeepers of the title of this film are of the heads of the Israeli security organization, Shin Bet.

Any documentary which studies contemporary Israel and its history of the last half century is of significance. Audiences, whatever their political stances, will be interested in Israel and its policies, especially towards Palestine, Palestinians and a Palestinian State. This film is of more than topical interest.

The director of the film, Dror Moreh, had the idea - it may have seemed quite improbable on paper - to do interviews with six of the directors of Shin Bet, from the 1980s to the present. The improbability was that they would agree to be filmed let alone be interviewed and express their personal as well as political points of view. But they did.

Were the film simply to consist of a succession of talking heads, it would be of paramount interest and importance. The six men are quite frank in expressing their views, their following orders, the influence on policy, the sometimes violent processes that they used for the security of Israel. But, also of importance, is the fact that each of them is in favour of a Palestinian State, and that they are critical of the views of the extreme right in Israel.

While the film has the interviews intercut each other, not just simply putting them in chronological order, the film also supplies a great deal of their background, as persons, as officials, as committed to the state. The film also incorporates a great deal of historical footage, especially of television coverage of the six day war, the Intifada, the surveillance of Palestinians, the assassination attempts instigated by Shin Bet as well as the rise of the right wing during the 1990s, the response to the Oslo agreement and the assassination of prime minister Rabin.

This background material provides the chronological development of the state of Israel, especially after the 1960s, the enlargement of its territory, the incorporation of the Palestinian Territories and the occupation.

This gives the audience quite an amount of information about which they may have very strong ideas. The presentation does offer an opportunity for challenging ideas and perspectives. One of the motif throughout the film is a focus on surveillance cameras and indication of the growing sophistication of the ability for authorities to focus and groups and individuals, even to the targeting of bombs and missiles. While this is interesting, yet it is frightening, focus on the leaders of Palestinian groups, getting information, infiltrating, putting explosives in telephones… There is also a tense presentation of the possibility of killing the hierarchy of Hamas but the difficulties in making life and death decisions with the issues of collateral damage for innocent people.

The presentation of the role of the political right and their religious views is important, especially in the events of the 1990s, the sudden assassination of Yitzham Rabin, the prevention of political and violent action by these groups for the greater good, as well as the freeing by the Knesset of some of those involved in Israeli terrorist attempts on buses and passengers, an unexpected angle on security issues in Israel.

While the film has been made by Israeli Group, it has alarmed and been condemned by some Jewish groups around the world. It was nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary in 2012.

1. The audience for this film? Worldwide? Information and material for reflection? The politics of Israel? For an Israeli audience? Palestinian? The Arab world?

2. Shin Bet, its origins, audience knowledge? The role of Mossad and its history? The role of shin bet, espionage, the gathering of information, interrogations, including torture, advice to the Israeli government? Ups and downs in its history? The 1980s, the rise of the right wing in Israel in the nineties, the Oslo agreement, prime minister Rabin? His assassination? The aftermath? Into the present?

3. The documentary style, the interviews, introducing the six chiefs of shin bet, their backgrounds, names and dates, the period of direction of the institution, reflecting the politics of the decades?

4. Newsreel footage intercutting, the six day war, of the wars, Lebanon? The visuals of terrorism, in Israel, in Gaza? The planning and carrying out of assassinations? Collateral damage and deaths of civilians? The Intifada?

5. The stances taken by the chiefs? Audience expectations? Spying, documents, the huge room and the filing cabinets of documents, the discussions of interrogation, discussions about torture, the range of surveillance techniques and the development since the 1980s?

6. The introduction to the film, the leader, his reflections, range of screens, the images, honing in on the cars in the streets?

7. The captions as chapters, strategy and tactics, collateral damage, victory and freedom, terror terrorists and freedom fighters, one of us… The insights from these captions?

8. The film presuming the establishment of the state of Israel, moving into the 1960s and seventies, the wars, extending of the boundaries of Israel, the 70,000 captive Palestinians, the occupation?

9. Israel, its development, the background of Ben Gurion, Golda Meir and the other Israeli prime ministers, their lack of interest in the Palestinians? The accountability of the Israeli government?

10. The past and Palestinians, the history, 1948, the wars, the occupation, the Intifada, terrorism and counter-terrorism? Palestinian anger?

11. Lebanon, the Lebanese wars? The 1980s, 1990s? 2006?

12. The issue of the settlements, rights, government decisions, the west bank, terrorist behaviour by the settlers, retaliation?

13. Politics in Israel, extremes, the religious right, fanaticism, the role of the rabbis, speeches?

14. The 21st century, the situation, Mossad, Shin Bet, the aftermath of the assassination of Rabin, the arrests, being freed by the Knesset? Shin Bet and the surveillance of Palestinians, attempts at killings, the telephone and the explosions? Hamas leaders in the one building, the decisions to be made whether to bomb or not?

15. The Shin Bet leaders and their views in the 21st century, the preservation of Israel, the two state solution?

16. The overall effect of the recent decades, Gaza, the West Bank, the building of the wall, peace talks, Oslo, Rabin’s assassination, fanaticism, Intifada, stalled peace talks…?


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