The Gatekeepers

Many observers felt that the best documentary did not win in this category at the Academy Awards this year. This is always somewhat subjective but they felt that The Gatekeepers, a remarkable film by an Israeli director, should have won. It is essentially interviews with six of the former heads of the Israeli security agency known as Shin Bet. These men are all fiercely loyal to the state of Israel, they understood the threats posed by their enemies, and they were willing to do whatever was necessary to eliminate those threats, including torture and murder.

This should come as no surprise, but what makes this film stunning is that they all concede that the Israeli strategy is not working. One, an elderly man now looking kindly in a flannel shirt and suspenders was known for his ruthlessness. He offers that there really has been no political strategy with the Palestinians, only tactics. He muses as well on the lack of morality in the response to the Palestinians, as do others. They point out that many errors have been made in the relationship with the more than one million residents of the West Bank and Gaza and that talking, negotiating, making peace, establishing two states are necessary.

I found the film, which I saw in Toronto Sunday afternoon, to be stunning. Shin Bet is obviously a secretive organization gathering intelligence, rounding up terrorists, executing those who pose the greatest threat. Yet these men are so frank. One of the six admits that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, while another acknowledges the futility of responding to the enemy who is coming at you this moment instead of considering the bigger picture. At the end one says that it may be possible that Israel wins all the battles and loses the war.

As I watched and listened I pondered the more than forty-year attempt at tightrope walking by the United Church when it comes to Israel and the Palestinians. On one hand we support the existence of the state of Israel and its need to defend its citizens. On the other we have called attention to the injustices which have been inflicted on the Palestinian people, including those who are Christians. We have been roundly criticized as recently as last August as our General Council met. But The Gatekeepers convinced me that we may not be right on every aspect of this issue, yet we are not far astray.

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