Three very different brothers – Alon (34), a no-nonsense Israeli Army officer; Benni (30), a brilliant electrician; and Idan (22), a wimpy field trip guide – navigate obstacles in an attempt to bury their beloved grandmother in the cemetery of her kibbutz, the fictional Asisim. Because Alon has a secret security operation set for that same day, they have to work on a tight schedule, so he plans it like a military operation (hence the title). A series of mistakes and mishaps complicate things.
The film is based on a real event in 1994, in which two 14-year-olds—Arbel Aloni and Moshe "Moshiko" Ben-Ivgi—murdered a taxi driver (named Derek Roth). In the film, their names have been changed to Ido Ben Ze'ev and Rafi, respectively. Ido comes from a wealthy family and acts as leader, while Rafi lives with his single mother and follows Ido.
The film is set on a modern kibbutz as the spectre of an Arab invasion lurks in the background and financial pressures are breaking down traditional communal values. A series of fragile, interwoven stories mirror this disintegration of collective ideals: a longstanding friendship between two 40-year-old bachelors (Danni Bassan and Meir Swissa) ends tragically when one decides to get married; a bereaved father is embarrassed to find himself attracted to his dead son's girlfriend (Dorit Lev-Ari); and a mother (Chava Alberstein) perpetuates the memory of her dead son by tending to his room as a memorial. At the same time, an elderly man (Mosko Alkalai) discovers a new, more loving relationship with his intellectually-disabled adult son (Avi Pnini).
The film takes place in 1999 in a small Israeli town, in which a young girl called Clara (Lucy Dubinchik) discovers that she has paranormal powers that allow her to predict the future.
The film follows Jewish resistance as they face a series of challenges against the Romans. Chronicling the capture of Jerusalem by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 164 BC to the fall and destruction of Jerusalem in the First Jewish-Roman War in AD 70.
Après avoir vécu à New York pendant des années, le cinéaste palestinien Elia Suleiman raconte son retour au pays au gré de ses errances à Nazareth et à Jérusalem.