DVD Review - Undressing Israel

Director Michael Lucas and Yariv Mozer establish at the top of the documentary that many people, mostly Americans, have this backwards view of modern-day Israel. Lucas and Mozer show us a series of quick responses from seemingly random people on the street answering questions about Israel. One of the questions includes, "Is homosexuality legal in Israel?" Most people respond by saying, "No, it's not legal."

The rest of the documentary is interviews from gay men who live in Israel, mostly in Tel Aviv, who spend the rest of the time showing how ignorant those Americans are. Not only is homosexuality legal, gay men in Israel have more rights and equality than a lot of gay men in the United States. Tel Aviv is more than just gay-friendly. Gay people have now been completely integrated into the society and culture, and normalized almost fully. Tel Aviv might in fact be the gayest city on Earth.

Lucas and Mozer's documentary essentially comes across as a tourist video for gay men. It's all about how great Tel Aviv is to the point of annoyance. It's a shame that Lucas and Mozer limit their perspective to gay men and not lesbians or transgendered people.

It's funny because Lucas interviews Eytan Fox, a well-known, gay filmmaker who directed a Jewish-Muslim romance called The Bubble (2006). It's funny because Lucas and Mozer's movie exists itself in a bubble. Yes, Lucas also interviews a young Muslim about his coming out process, which shows some perspective, but the lack of context elsewhere is a bit galling.

For example, Lucas and Mozer point out that being gay in the Israeli military is not an issue. They neglect to point out that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has universal, obligatory conscription. Israeli boys are drafted into the military at age 18 and have to serve in some capacity until their 40s.

Because of Israel's national security situation, their conflicts with Palestinians for example, IDF needs every man and woman they can get. So, in order to maintain troop levels, given its size, IDF can't afford to be homophobic.

The fact is that the IDF was homophobic. Its policies changed in the 90s, two decades before the U.S. got rid of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' but homophobia there did exist. Lucas and Mozer provide no sense of history of that nor much history anywhere else.

Two Stars out of Five.
Not Rated but recommended 14 and Up.
Running Time: 46 mins.