The Gatekeepers

Six former heads of Israel’s Shin Bet secret service agency open up about their work and the state of the Israel-Palestine divide in this arresting documentary.

As heads of the Shin Bet (the Israeli Security Agency), the six interviewees who narrate this movie stayed behind the scenes, providing their country with an unseen shield. One of them looks like a jolly grandfather in suspenders. Another has a youthful presence, but shares the reflections of a man much older. Another, with scratchy voice and chiseled face quotes intellectuals like Hannah Arendt and Carl von Clausewitz. Now, for the first time, they make themselves visible, speaking out with surprising frankness in the most dramatic political documentary in years, especially for anyone with a stake in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“’The Gatekeepers’ cuts deeper than any political thriller. It’s a powerhouse.” ~ Rolling Stone.