Lavac’s doco in Israel counters Hamas lies
Peter Lavac is not Jewish, but became a vocal advocate for Israel and the Jewish community.
A prominent Sydney criminal barrister has returned from a three-week documentary-filming trip to Israel, determined to educate ordinary Australians about the horrific reality of the October 7 Hamas attacks and counter what he calls “widespread media propaganda” on our shores.
Peter Lavac is not Jewish, but became a vocal advocate for Israel and the Jewish community here after being shocked by the surge in antisemitism since October 7.
He chose to spend mid-July to early August filming throughout Israel – particularly in the Gaza envelope, Majdal Shams and the Lebanon border area – and feels fortunate to have had Cannes award-winning cinematographer Alon Grego by his side.
“I want to educate ordinary Australians about what happened on October 7, 2023, and what has been happening there ever since,” Lavac told The AJN last month.
“Most Aussies have no idea what happened on October 7 and the only information reported by Western media comes from one source only – the Gaza Ministry of Health – which is actually the Hamas Ministry of Propaganda.”
Lavac conducted moving interviews with survivors, families of victims and political and security experts.
His dual purpose was to reassure Israelis that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese “does not speak for me, nor does he speak for the vast majority of Aussies” and to provide Australians with information beyond what he describes as the “Hamas propaganda machine”.
Two interviews particularly stood out in his mind and deeply affected Lavac.
The first was with a Druze mother, whose daughter Alma was killed along with 11 other children on July 27, 2024 when a Hezbollah missile struck the football field they were in, at Majdal Shams.
“I promised and vowed to Alma’s mum that her voice and Alma’s beautiful memory will be brought to the world’s attention by my documentary,” Lavac said.
He attended a one-year commemorative service in Majdal Shams and also spent time in northern Israeli towns that were severely damaged by Hezbollah fire.
The second interview that most struck his mind was with the cousin and uncle of Shiri Bibas – the Israeli mother who was kidnapped into Gaza from her Nir Oz home with her red-headed children Ariel, 4 and Kfir, eight months, by Hamas on October 7 and then all were brutally murdered.
He said the most challenging aspect was viewing the complete 48-minute video footage recorded on terrorists’ body-cams, at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Despite working on more than 100 murder cases, Lavac described that footage as “beyond anything I’ve ever encountered”.
His interviews for the documentary also included the father of young Israeli soldier Sergeant Tomer Leibovitz who was killed by Hamas terrorists while defending communities on the Israeli side of the Gaza border.
And high-profile experts such as Global Law Forum chair and former Israeli ambassador to Canada Alan Baker, former president of the Jerusalem Centre for Security and Foreign Affairs Dr Dan Diker and Israeli journalist and war correspondent Itai Anghel.
Lavac also visited Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, the Nova festival memorial and Yad Vashem.
The documentary is now in the post-production process and Lavac hopes that when it is released, it can be widely distributed, “because, the only info Aussies are getting now is the rubbish media propaganda that’s being spouted by Hamas”.
“And that’s what this documentary is going to fix,” Lavac said. “I hope it will help to set the record straight.”