Thursday 24 January 2013

Secret of the Secret services: Israel's 'Gatekeepers'

The Gatekeepers is an Israeli documentary based on long interviews with the six surviving heads of the Shin Bet — that's Israel's domestic security service. These six "gatekeepers" were in charge for more than 30 years.

All of these men made life and death decisions over Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. They arrested and interrogated thousands. They also tried to contain the radical Jewish underground. In the film, they describe what they did and why — and they come out sounding more like advocates of an Israeli peace movement than veterans spoiling for another fight.

Filmmaker Dror Moreh joins NPR's Robert Siegel to talk about his film, which is one of five nominees in the Best Documentary Feature category at the 85th Annual Academy Awards.

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