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Jake Paltrow’s ‘June Zero’ Examines How the Eichmann Trial Affected Israeli Society

Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann sitting in a glass box flanked by guards at his trial in Jerusalem. Photo: GPO.

Jake Paltrow, co-writer and director of “June Zero,” begins his film on the day of the verdict for Nazi Adolf Eichmann in 1961. But rather than focus on Eichmann, as most would do, the film is more about the surrounding society.

If you require linear films that go clearly from point A to B, you may miss what the film has to offer.

On his decision to barely show Eichmann, who was ultimately executed for his crimes in the Holocaust, Paltrow says, “the question was ‘How are we going to make it feel like it’s relevant to a contemporary audience?’ From a personal subjective point of view, these workers are not the higher echelons of power.”

The film centers on David, a young boy from Libya who wants to make his mark in Israel (where Eichmann was tried) by getting a job as a cleaner — but David gets into trouble when he takes something that doesn’t belong to him and overhears a secret conversation.

The boy (played by Noam Ovadia) blurts out that it might be a mistake to execute Eichmann, and his teacher rebukes him.

To this day, Eichmann is the only person Israel has ever executed in the history of the country.

Despite not being a fluent speaker of Hebrew, Paltrow said he decided the film made more sense in that language. He said it was at first a daunting proposition, but then it became easier.

“I thought it would be more difficult than it ultimately was,” Paltrow said. “My co-writer felt confident about me doing it. In our conversation, it just felt like taking every other consideration out of it, what would be the best for the story? The story takes place in this country, in this time, with these actors.”

A few scenes were also shot in Ukraine before Russia’s invasion.

Ovadia is the best part of the film; he sets the foundation of the movie up with a combination of innocence and trickery.

“That was a big concern before we started,” Paltrow said. “[That we didn’t have a great kid]. That was my biggest concern. When we found Noam, who was a non-actor, I remember vividly the excitement I had that I found this boy with such a natural emotional ability and access ,and he’s funny and has a beautiful heart.”

Asked if his Oscar-winning actress sister, Gwyneth, gave him advice for directing the film, he said it was more an example.

“My family is not one of advice givers,” he said. “They are exceptionally good role models for working hard and having long careers and I think for both of us, watching our parents was the lesson that they are good human beings and single-minded about their craft.”

The movie was shot on 18-millimeter film, which Paltrow likes to use instead of a digital process.

“I love it,” he said. “I felt like I spent a lot of time as a younger director learning how to expose it and process it in a way, [so] I could transpose what I had in my mind onto the screen.”

A good portion of the film is about making sure they have the right oven to cremate Eichmann, though one rabbi asks why they don’t simply throw the body into a bonfire.

What ever happened to the oven? “We could never find out what happened to it afterwards,” Paltrow said.

Paltrow said he’s aware that there is a lack of strong Holocaust education outside of Israel, and said: “I think the hope is that first and foremost, (the film) is an emotional experience where you are under a spell until it ends.”

The film could stand to have a few more scenes of greater conflict, but the most powerful moment is when actor Tom Hagi (The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem) delivers a speech as a Polish Holocaust survivor describing getting 25 lashes. I would have liked to have seen this flashback instead of exposition, but Hagi’s speech is piercing.

The film has the proper and gritty look, the actors were credible, and I only wish that more conflict could have been developed. I would have liked Eichmann to be shown much more, but that was a directorial approach I understand.

Jake Paltrow’s drama “June Zero” is about how the Eichmann verdict affected Israeli workers and society, and it’s one I recommend.

The author is a writer based in New York.

The post Jake Paltrow’s ‘June Zero’ Examines How the Eichmann Trial Affected Israeli Society first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.

The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.

They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.

Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.

Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.

Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.

The post Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS

i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.

The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.

Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.

He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.

The post Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.

Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.

Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.

Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.

Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.

The post Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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