The Bibi Files

Perhaps the most timely documentary of the year, Alexis Bloom’s The Bibi Files is a meticulous and damning portrait of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose decades in power have blurred the line between his identity and that of the nation he governs. Through a combination of newly leaked police interrogation footage and interviews with close observers attained by Alex Gibney, Bloom exposes a leader so consumed with self-preservation that he’s willing to risk his country’s stability. Central to this is the chilling suggestion that Netanyahu is deliberately prolonging the war in Gaza to avoid imprisonment on corruption charges – an unending conflict serving as his shield.

Bloom’s investigation is Shakespearean in scope, portraying Netanyahu as a ruler whose ego and paranoia have entwined his personal fate with that of Israel. This notion – of a king unable to distinguish between himself and his realm – is strikingly evident in Netanyahu’s unyielding insistence during interrogations that everything he does is for the good of Israel.

His denials and theatrical indignation evoke a monarch focused on political survival, disguising it as a national necessity, all while seeming moments away from slipping into the royal we. The film critiques this conflation, suggesting it is not only a slap in the face to Israel’s parliamentary democracy, but has also left the nation vulnerable, its security apparatus stretched thin even before the events of October 7^th.

Equally intriguing is Bloom’s portrayal of Sara Netanyahu, a lesser-seen yet unmistakable potent force in Netanyahu’s career. Former associates paint her as an insatiable figure who demands expensive champagne and Tiffany & Co necklaces, and points to the disproportionate influence she wields over her husband’s personal and political life. While she remains a shadowy presence, her resemblance to Lady Macbeth has been noted for over a decade. Her outbursts in the interrogation room, along with a confession from an interviewee that Netanyahu might fear her, further solidify the comparison and raise unsettling questions about the power dynamics within their household, extending into the political arena.

The Bibi Files delivers a scathing indictment of a leader who, in his quest for personal survival, has held the nation he serves hostage. In just 113 minutes, Bloom unravels decades of corruption, vanity, and self-serving alliances, while the Netanyahu dynasty, through their own words, presents themselves not as servants of the state, but as a family that sees Israel as an extension of their own legacy.

Christina Yang

The Bibi Files is released in select cinemas on 13^th December 2024.

Watch the trailer for The Bibi Files here: