Israel’s Defense Bolstered by ‘Soul of a Nation’ Documentary

For years, Israel has waged a battle beyond its physical borders – a struggle for narrative, legitimacy and perception. While military conflicts make headlines, this parallel war over how Israel is seen and understood often finds the nation trapped in defensive posturing, constantly rebutting criticism and justifying its existence against waves of disinformation.

A new documentary, “Soul of a Nation” (available on Apple TV), takes a fundamentally different approach to Israel’s public diplomacy – one that might reshape how the country communicates its story to the world.

Directed by Venezuelan filmmaker Jonathan Jakubowicz, whose previous credits include films featuring Robert De Niro, Jesse Eisenberg, and Ana de Armas, the documentary brings a unique perspective to Israel’s internal divisions and complexities. Having witnessed firsthand how extreme polarization hollowed out Venezuela’s democratic discourse, Jakubowicz approaches Israel not as an outsider assigning blame, but as a storyteller who understands the dangers of reducing complex national struggles to simplistic slogans.

The film, which won the Audience Award at the Miami Jewish Film Festival, presents Israel during a pivotal period in 2023 – from the judicial reform crisis through the months leading up to October 7 and its aftermath. But in chronicling Israel at its darkest hour, the documentary accomplishes something unexpected. Rather than methodically countering accusations, it dismantles anti-Israel propaganda by doing something more powerful: showing Israel as it truly is – flawed, complex, democratic, diverse, and deeply human.

This approach directly confronts a fundamental challenge in Israel’s global image. Anti-Israel propaganda thrives on simplification, reducing the country to caricatures – colonizer, apartheid state, aggressor. Such narratives depend on erasing Israel’s internal debates, moral struggles, and social diversity. The more Israel is portrayed as uniform and ideologically rigid, the easier it becomes to demonize.

“Soul of a Nation” breaks that frame entirely. Instead of presenting a sanitized image, the film plunges viewers into Israel’s internal arguments: Right and Left, secular and religious, Jewish and Arab, pro- and anti-Netanyahu. It shows a society arguing loudly and passionately about its future.

The effect is striking. Israel emerges not as a talking point, but as a living democracy with all the virtues and dysfunction that implies.

The documentary’s effectiveness lies in its refusal to play the traditional “hasbara” (explanation) game. Rather than explaining why Israel is right, the film shows how Israel thinks, argues, fears, and hopes. This distinction matters profoundly.

Propaganda collapses under complexity. Accusations of apartheid are not directly rebutted – they simply become difficult to maintain when viewers witness Israel’s intricate social fabric. The film reveals an Israeli right wing built not on European privilege but significantly influenced by the experiences of Mizrahi Jews, darker-skinned immigrants from Arab countries who spent decades feeling marginalized by the Ashkenazi Labor establishment that founded the state.

For viewers expecting a simple story of white colonizers and brown victims, this reality challenges preconceptions. Similarly, claims of fascism ring hollow when confronted with mass protests, Supreme Court battles, and a relentlessly critical press. The image of a cold, militarized state falters when viewers encounter grieving families, anguished anti-government reservists, and activists across the political spectrum.

By presenting Israel honestly – including its flaws – the film paradoxically strengthens Israel’s moral credibility.

Speaking at the Jerusalem Post Washington Conference, Jakubowicz made a disarmingly simple point: his film wasn’t meant to change minds about Israel. It was meant to portray reality, and reality is more compelling than a flawless narrative.

In storytelling, he argued, the quickest way to lose an audience is to present a perfect hero. Perfection reads as performance. It invites suspicion and creates distance. Only villains insist on their own righteousness, presenting themselves as polished, certain, and endlessly self-justifying.

That, Jakubowicz suggested, is the trap of traditional hasbara. In trying to prove Israel right at every turn, it often presents a version of the country that feels too controlled, too coherent – more cartoon than reality. And that ultimately undermines credibility.

“Soul of a Nation” rejects that instinct. It shows Israel not as a symbol, but a country marked by contradiction – shaped by trauma, fractured by internal conflict, and forced, at times, to act in ways that even its own citizens question. It is not always admirable. It is often uneasy with itself. And that authenticity is precisely what makes the portrayal powerful.

At a time when Israel faces unprecedented hostility on campuses, social media, and international institutions, the documentary suggests that the most effective response to propaganda is not counter-propaganda, but authenticity. Instead of explaining why accusations are wrong, the film renders them implausible. Instead of denying flaws, it acknowledges them – reframing them as evidence of democratic vitality rather than moral failure.

This approach invites an urgent shift in Israeli communications: from defense to narrative, from rebuttal to revelation. The most striking outcome is that it allows viewers to see Israel – often for the first time – as a society rather than a symbol.

When viewers recognize Israelis as people wrestling with the same questions that define every democracy – justice, security, identity, power, and responsibility – the ground beneath extremist narratives begins to crumble. Propaganda depends on distance. Humanity closes it.

“Soul of a Nation” does not claim to resolve Israel’s conflicts, internal or external. What it does – without making that its explicit aim – is more important: it restores proportion, context, and empathy to a conversation long dominated by absolutes.

For Israel’s future communicators, diplomats, and storytellers, the takeaway is clear: the world does not need Israel to be perfect. It needs Israel to be real.