thunderbold_93 As outlined in other reviews, the movie is a must-watch for anyone who cares about Israel. These people are not doves, nor any kind of ideologically motivated pacifists/lefties, they all come from different backgrounds and yet they all have the same message : Israel must separate from the Palestinians or it's the end of Zionism.However, one important fact I must stress out is that the movie assumes knowledge about the conflict, without it - I imagine - the movie, that doesn't follow a strictly chronological sequence of events will either not make much sense or paint a slightly distorted image.One important inaccuracy (in my opinion) is the statement by one of the heads about how Rabin's "killed hope". That is not true, after the assassination, the Israelis reacted as you'd expect any people to react: with massive support for the legacy of the dead prime minister and endorsement of his successor. Before the 1996 election, Peres seemed poised to win by a significant margin. However, four Hamas terror attacks between February and March gave the win to Netanyahu.That being said, I do agree that his assassination did incalculable damage to the Israeli peace camp. Most importantly, because of his past as a war hero, he was the only one who could successfully sell the "Make peace as if there was no terror" policy.

Stacypg78 Well each of these men who are of different ages and having served at different times finally came to realize that the Palestinians might actually have a legitimate case for their fury wasn't just surprising, but shocking. This is ultimately why "The Gatekeepers" Rules. This movie reveals things aren't what they seem and most certainly aren't black and white. Assuming you care about the future and what is perhaps the most important area of dispute in the world, this is a movie that you'll be thinking about long after you've departed the theater. Unfortunately, few people will get that chance. Few people care enough to go see a documentary about anything these days. Why try and educate ourselves about the past and current events when instead we can waste more time ignoring history. But this is a movie made for everyone, it doesn't fall short but gets very little points on style. But it sure defies expectations. One can only wish the right people will see it and come out as flabbergasted as I did.

Hot 888 Mama . . . than it is probably a useful exercise to watch this Oscar-nominated feature documentary which stitches together the philosophy of six Israeli Dick Cheneys who ran that Middle Eastern country's intelligence service from about 1980 to 2011. These guys control a warehouse of files that puts the one at the end of INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK to shame. Apparently, there is a paper file on every resident of both Israel and the Occupied Territories. Further, the bank of video screens is more extensive than the Federation used to monitor the entire Universe, as each block of the Holy Land is under continuous high-resolution satellite surveillance. Finally, the self-proclaimed "Jewish State" apparently is the main testing ground for the United States military's "Hellfire" weaponized aerial drone program, in which video gamers blow up Palestinian pedestrians, vehicles, homes, and businesses right and left. All of this could be coming to an America near you soon, so get ready!

Edward Rosenthal This film makes a big assumption that its audience has at least a practical knowledge of the history of the Israel/Palestinian conflict. There's almost no context offered other than a brief recap of the 6 Days War in 1967 when Israeli forces under the leadership of the charismatic Moshe Dayan invaded and conquered Palestinian controlled lands on two fronts, including Syrian, Lebanese and Jordanian lands. To the south on the border with Egypt is the Gaza Strip and to the east is the West Bank encompassing the lands extending to the Jordan River and includes the ancient city of Jerusalem. These ostensibly autonomous regions were officially under Palestinian rule but nearly every aspect of daily life was controlled, monitored and regulated by Israeli agencies and forces. Never mentioned are the contentious circumstances of Israel's establishment as an actual nation following World War II, and thus a key aspect of the conflict is conspicuously absent, presumably because it would require at least 2 or 3 hours just to review this subject, even superficially. Needless to say, it's a complex and convoluted history, and prior biases and prejudices are inevitable, and the film is certainly not innocent of this transgression, but this in no way diminishes the impact and resonance of the film's superbly executed theatrics. Yes, the film relies extensively on the old documentary trope of the well lit talking head, but The Gatekeepers triumphs in its masterful incorporation of actual Israeli military footage of aerial and ground attacks, and even more so by the photographs which through remarkable computer enhancement are rendered sculptural. The way these black & white still photos are made to spring to 3 dimensional life is a sublimely potent metaphor for the ability of artful storytelling to reanimate presumably long dead history. The words of the various former leaders of the Shin Bet carry an undeniable gravitas and echo in the mind and soul as we are visually guided on a tour of their previously little known realm. By focusing on the subtle variations and contradictions of each speaker's version of events and policies and tactics we are made acutely aware of the generations old conflict's profound effect upon the psyches of everyone involved. The most confident and stoic of the former leaders is possessed of a deep sense of tragedy. Avraham Shalom - who headed Shin Bet from 1981 to 1986 during the time of an incident where two Palestinian prisoners were ordered killed while being held in captivity - casually denies his culpability but it's apparent that the incident has inflicted deep wounds which even today are still very tender. The mind bending paradoxes of the seemingly intractable conflict have left their mark on all these competent, eloquent and even brave men, and some are willing to admit that perhaps they have behaved immorally and even criminally while also acknowledging the irony of their cruel treatment of Palestinians as inexcusable behavior for a people as historically mistreated as the Jews. It's a desperately poignant moment when the individual men all express their doubts and even contempt for the political leaders who so brazenly exploit the horrific conflict for their own ends. These six men who were charged with the gruesome task of eliminating threats to Israel's security are oddly some of the most compelling critics of their nation's treatment of the Palestinians.