Anyone desiring a more nuanced understanding of Israel’s history must watch The Gatekeepers (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment), which will be available July 9 on Blu-ray and DVD. Director Dror Moreh managed to interview at length the six former heads of Shin Bet, Israel’s vaunted domestic security service. They talk about their covert war against Palestinian terrorists, their successes and failures. For example, Carmi Gillon discusses the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish extremist, on his watch, and how that notable failure finally led him to resign. Finally, these warriors for Israel, who worked closely with their Palestinian counterparts in the post-Oslo years, condemn the country’s feckless political establishment that has failed to find a modus vivendi with the Palestinians. — M.S.
(American Jewish World, 7.5.13)
