Soul of a Nation is a very personal documentary capturing the State of Israel at a time when the country is on the verge of a civil war.

It’s one thing to read about what’s happening in Israel from across the pond. It’s another thing to be on the ground and talking to people on all sides. Having grown up in Venezuela, filmmaker Jonathan Jakubowicz headed to Israel as the country fought for its very soul. He talks to people on every which site you could think of. What this results in is a documentary that gives audiences every perspective in the coalition’s attempt to overhaul the judiciary. This attempt set off weeks of protests to the point in which several unions started striking. The coalition pulled back but then made another attempt a few months later, setting off even more protests. It reached a point in which Israel appeared to inch closer to civil war. While Israel reached a breaking point, terrorists were training in Gaza.

There is Israel before and after 6:30 AM on October 7, 2023. A country previously on the verge of collapse was all of a sudden united. Reservists flew back to defend the country from terrorism. Not only from the Hamas but Iranian proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. It has basically been a war on seven fronts and this doesn’t even include the war taking place on social media, where cognitive dissonance seems to be missing in action. What was closing in on the biggest moment in the Israeli-Arab conflict ended up being put on pause. Following the historic Abraham Accords, Israel was days away from reaching an agreement with Saudi Arabia. This would have led to peace between Israel and a vast amount of the Sunni Islam world. Alas, Hamas–like with the earlier Camp David talks in 2000–interrupted with the worst attack against Jews since the Holocaust.

How did Israel reach this point in history? It starts with the disengagement of Gush Kutif in 2005. Under then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s leadership, Israel withdrew from Gaza. It got very ugly as Israelis living within 17 settlements were forcibly withdrawn from their homes. Prime Minister Sharon was the least likely of all prime ministers to be withdrawing out of Gaza or Judea and Samaria. After a stroke forced him out of power, Ehud Olmert was elected prime minister. Under Olmert’s leadership, there were more peace talks with the Palestinians. But much like 2000, these talks did not end with peace. You can read more about this in A Path to Peace. But anyway, all this is to say that withdrawing from Gaza would bring about the fall of the left and the rise of the right.

Unless you have been living in a cave, you probably know that Israelis value security. They tend to favor the right-wing when it comes to voting. What might surprise you is that the right-wing base, aside from settlers and Haredim, includes Sephardim and Mizrahi Jews. Sephardim and Mizrahi Jews–the Jews from Middle East and North Africa–tend to share more customs and values with each other than the Ashkenazi Jews. The film does a very good job at explaining the differences in people who make up the Jewish community makeup, both in Israel and the diaspora. In fact, it kind of helps drive home why the communities can have different views. Over half of the Jewish population living in the U.S. is Ashkenazi. The majority of the Israeli Jewish population is Sephardim and Mizrahi–what might surprise Americans is that they vote right-wing because of security concerns.

It isn’t uncommon for a filmmaker to insert themselves into the story, which is exactly what Jonathan Jakubowicz does in Soul of a Nation. There might be some instances in which he is walking with one of the film’s interview subjects. In fact, some of their views may surprise you as to which politicians they favor or if they support or oppose the judicial overhaul. Anyway, he doesn’t just talk to key political figures but he talks to people young and old, left and right, women’s rights activists, peace activists, Muslim leaders, journalists, historians, Nobel Prize winners, and other politicians. What is it that led former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert to protest in support of more police in Arab neighborhoods and to do so with little security?

I’ve barely touched on October 7. The footage is horrifying and I will never not be able to look away from it. No matter how many times a film shows footage from the Hamas cameras, it’s important to bare witness. Jakubowicz doesn’t shy away from what’s been happening in Gaza but we also can’t forget that none of this would be happening if not for Hamas. The October 7 attack didn’t just shock the State of Israel but Jews across the globe. It was touching to see the solidarity from so many countries–I will never not be emotional seeing this displays. The Israeli flag was lit up on the Brandenberg Gate in Berlin of all places!

On October 8, one day after the worst attack against Jews since the Holocaust, there were anti-Israel protests across the world, including college campuses in the US. These protests were very ugly in nature with terrorist sympathizers celebrating dead Jews. This film briefly touches on them but they are explored in-depth in October H8te. Watching the responses is just sickening and disturbing. In what universe should academic professors in America be celebrating dead Jews?!? Hate has no home here!

What happens with Israel is very important. The film touches on Tisha B’Av and sinat chinam (baseless hatred). Make no mistake that there were such acts transpiring because of the overhaul attempts. Did this lead to October 7? It’s very much possible. But back to what I was saying, Israel is the ancestral Jewish homeland. History has shown time and again that Jews have never been safe in any country. Things grew bad in Europe over a decade ago and many Jewish-Americans are fearing that America has reached the point in which we should consider packing our backs. Aliyah applications increased after October 7 and they’ll probably continue increasing as more Jews start moving to Israel.

Even during dark times of polarization, Soul of a Nation shows the importance of unity, even when it might seem impossible. Am Yisrael Chai!

DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER/NARRATOR: Jonathan Jakubowicz
FEATURING: Naftali Bennett, Ehud Olmert, Dorit Beinisch, Shlomo Ben-Ami, Tzipi Livni, Michael Oren, Simcha Rothman

Soul of a Nation holds its world premiere during the 2025 Miami Jewish Film Festival as the Opening Night selection. Grade: 5/5

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