The edge of the abyss

BASYA LAYE

Dror Moreh’s film The Gatekeepers is a significant accomplishment. It features in-depth interviews with the six surviving former heads of the Shin Bet, also known as Shabak. This is the first time any of these men have spoken publicly about their experiences in Israel’s secretive domestic security service, and their roles on the front lines of the country’s war against terror.

The men – Avraham Shalom (1980-1986), Yaakov Peri (1988-1995), Carmi Gillon (1994-1996), Ami Ayalon (1996-2000), Avi Dichter (2000-2005) and Yuval Diskin (2005-2011) – speak thoughtfully, candidly and emotionally throughout the 97-minute film about their relationships with Israeli prime ministers and defence ministers at crucial points in Israel’s recent history. After three years of work, Moreh had filmed more than 70 hours of interviews with the six former heads, and he was certain he had a groundbreaking – and controversial – film on his hands.

The most noteworthy moments come when the interviewees question their formerly hard-line opinions, the morality of the occupation and the ethics of specific tactics (including targeted assassinations and the impact of collateral damage). In this way, the film is a deftly managed critique of the destructive effects of the occupation on Israeli society. In these men’s opinions, the occupation has become untenable, and Israeli society is at the edge of an abyss. You can win the battle and lose the war, one says. Another explains, “We’ve become cruel to ourselves as well as to the people we are occupying.” Indeed, one even muses with a sense of irony that Shin Bet commanders become “leftists” in retirement.

After the Six Day War, the men recount, there was a shift in focus away from dealing with the Palestinian issue to fighting terror. To that end, Israel increasingly became a country ruled not by politicians but by the security apparatus, a reality that allowed politicians to dodge the question of how to make peace and to get caught in a never-ending quest for greater security.

The film describes the mounting terror of hijackings and suicide bus bombings in the 1970, ’80s and ’90s, and of the intifadas, but also focuses on the growth of West Bank settlements and increasing religious Jewish ultra-nationalism. While Shin Bet was responsible for providing security from outside threats, it became refocused on threats from within, from Jewish terror, whether from the group of religious Jews who planned to blow up the Dome of the Rock or the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. The former Shin Bet heads express resentment that successive Israeli governments have done nothing to prevent “settlers from becoming the masters,” a situation they see as a national crisis.

Moreh has said that he worked very hard on the esthetics of the film and the result is somewhat clinical and highly stylized. The Gatekeepers is filmed with what appears to be a bright blue-grey filter, accenting the shirts in various shades of blue worn by the men, the black-and-white documentary footage and the jarringly crisp animated recreations.

One major issue with the film is that it launches into the aftermath of the Six Day War but provides little or no context for viewers who may not be up on their Israeli history. As far as the interviewees go in assessing the state of Israel’s soul and its future, a little context might have gone a long way. The film’s primary purpose, however, is to generate discussion about what Israel can do to secure a more peaceful future, and that it does.

“Day after day, while interviewing them, I found myself staring in disbelief at these … soldiers,” Moreh explains in his director’s notes. “Their stories and testimonies were often overwhelming. I couldn’t help but ask asking myself how far I would have gone if confronted with the same life-or-death dilemmas that they dealt with on a day-to-day basis. I still do.

“No one understands the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians better than these six men. When they speak, leaders listen. Perhaps the time has come for the ‘Gatekeepers’ to address the people at large, and not just the inner circles of decision-makers.”

The Gatekeepers opens March 1 at Fifth Avenue Cinemas.

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