When it comes to Israeli intelligence services, it is usually the foreign service, Mossad, that gets all the sexy evil headlines. The internal intelligence service, Shin Bet, formed originally as a part of the Israeli military, often stands in the shadows of its more infamous cousin. Yet perhaps, with a motto that translates as “The Unseen Defender” this suits them well. However, THE GATEKEEPERS shows that Shin Bet is just as capable of bold, controversial and deplorable things.

…each chief struggles to justify his legacy not just to the outside world but to himself.

Structured in talking head style, the film gives its narration over to various ex chiefs of the intelligence service, all of whom have had various brushes with controversy; whether that be the beating to death of terrorist prisoners under their watch, the assassination of the Prime Minister in their care, or the decision to drop a one tonne bomb on a building in a crowded suburban area in their own country. The documentary does a good job of observing the way in which each chief struggles to justify his legacy not just to the outside world but to himself.

Many of these men seem to have grappled with conscience for years and seem haunted. The voices in the film are all Israeli, there is no counter interview with any Palestinian figures and perhaps it could have benefitted from such. Its structure is led entirely by the narration of these interviews, and gives the film a dense and often plodding pace. Even the archival footage offers no respite as the audio marches on. However, this is not a documentary of governmental propaganda. The film begins as if wanting to present a portrait of the complicated nature of its subject, to remain fairly impartial, but as the film progresses the frustration and anger of the Israeli director grows louder and louder, until unable to contain himself any longer, his accusatory voice begins to invade the soundtrack. This is an Israeli angry at Israel: a not uncommon emotion amongst the creative class in Israel.

We hear an ex-head of the Israeli secret service admit to having come close to suicide over his failures…

When visiting overseas, Israeli films are often boycotted or Israeli dance performances protested against, yet if there were any one group in Israel most aware and most critical of its government’s actions, GATEKEEPERS shows that it would most probably be those in the arts: the filmmakers, the musicians, the writers, the artists. The greatest triumph of this Oscar nominated documentary, and where it gets its greatest power, is the filmmaker’s ability to persuade each of these prominent figures to speak so openly about their experiences. We hear an ex-head of the Israeli secret service, someone you would expect to be tight-lipped and nationalistic until the end, admit to having come close to suicide over his failures; another compares the actions of his country, his organisation, to those of Nazi Germany. The picture painted by this documentary is bleak, many of the voices seeming to agree that most hope died alongside Yitzhak Rabin and the crumbling of the Two State talks. And yet somehow it leaves us determined to see this last shred of hope burgeon into positive, peaceful action.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpk71yrQUQM