Yes, some early war films might be deemed "propaganda". But the best are films that deal with the big moral questions, about those things we put our lives on the line to defend, about selflessness and brotherhood. Those who adopt an "anti-war" mantra must not have anything worth fighting for, and will be the first to fall before those who have no moral qualms about waging war.

No movie today that depicts something other than a soft, weak, corrupt, Israeli society and sensitive, peace loving and soul searching individuals will never be admited to those festivals, let alone win. One must be blind or naive to think otherwise.

There are two great pains: 1. that we only deal with the trauma we caused ourselves and others in films, 20 plus years later. Who will make Hora With Hamed about Gaza 2008-9? And will we have to wait until 2029 for it? 2. The "living by the sword" motto, is like "ain breirah - no choice" from the 1970s and before. Except that 3 great Israelis all concluded that Israel could not afford to continue to live by the sword - Dayan, Eshkol and Rabin. And in the end Rabin paid with his life for daring to see that Israel could not live forever by the sword, it was not and is not endurable. Not that the swords should be turned to plough-shares, but that negotiated settlements however fragile are better than being in a permanent state of war. The deals with Egypt and Jordan are proof of that. As long as we are in denial about how we can really survive, so we will continue to lose great men and ordinary men in wars we could have postponed if not avoided altogether.

If it were a film about the life in Sderot or many, many suicide bombings they wouldn't received even a small price. Now Chavez gave the "prize", not the Nobel for Arafat-Rabin -Peres.

while he is eating another human....probably your neighbor.......or pick up a very big rifle instead.............. I'll pick up the rifle any old day. I won't be boo hooing about the lions death afterwords either. It's called survival.....if you don't have it........you don't survive to see your children survive another day. The kids next in line after your death. Bacterium and the virus go at war with us every day of the week. Should I feel sorry for them......and write an antibiotic or flu shot movie also?

The defeat of the PLO and their expulsion to Tunis. This was an achievement that could have led to a settlement of the Palestinian issue not involving the death, injury, and traumatization of thousands of Israelis in further terror attacks. Instead, Rabin and Peres in their infinite wisdom rescued the PLO from their Tunisian exile and brought them to the West Bank and Gaza. We know the results. Yeah, let's see that prize-winning film about suffering in Sderot. Any takers in the Israeli film community? Anybody in the foreign film community going to give it prizes? I don't think so. And let's have that film about Israeli soldiers' inconceivable courage, camaraderie, and achievements in saving all of us from death. Don't make me laugh. How uncool. Like bringing a Frank Sinatra record into a hippie party.

Quote :”.. running away from battle is not a solution.” Correct. And also, NO one can point out, in past three thousand years, a century in which there were no wars in the Middle East. So, we can safely say that in the COMING three thousand years there will ALSO be wars in the Middle East. This means that Israel should ALWAYS be ready to repel ANY attack directed towards her civilians. That Israel repels attacks on her civilians does NOT mean that Israel is the aggressor. NO ! When the attacker is punished -- the international community should NOT think that Israel is at fault. NO ! To punish the attacker -- that is the normal thing to do. It is not a bad thing to punish the attacker. IF the attacker is not punished -- that will be seen as a dereliction of duty of the Israeli Government. The vivid example of this is the 3,000 Kassam rockets and mortars fired from Gaza Strip by Hamas-et-al towards Sderot, other places in Israel starting from the beginning of January 2008 till 25th of December 2008 -- which resulted in the Winter 2008 Gaza War. BTW the Government of Israel should have punished Hamas-led Gaza Strip MUCH earlier. To wait for the number to reach 3,000 (rockets and mortars) -- borders at being irresponsible as a Government. Punishment SHOULD be meted out MUCH earlier. ANOTHER result will be that if the attacker is not punished sooner -- he will become more and more emboldened. SO, the international community should NOT criticize Israel for punishing the Hamas-led Gaza Strip.

You say :”.. wars we could have postponed ..” Wars can NOT be postponed. When Sderot, other places in Israel are under attack -- Israel MUST punish Hamas-led Gaza Strip, Israel can NOT postpone the response. By postponing the response the attackers (i.e. Hamas-et-al) becomes more and more emboldened. And that is the last thing a self-respecting Government (any self-respecting Government) should want. The general rule should be to punish and eliminate the attackers -- as soon as possible, as many as possible. SO, no postponing.