First you need to watch the video:
The IDF is the Israeli Defense Force, and a three-year tour is mandatory for Israeli men over the age of 18 (women are required to serve two years). Some Arabs are exempted.
Why the interviewer won’t answer a simple and valid question about why he hasn’t yet served at the age of 25 is fascinating. Hopefully, someone in Israel will follow up.
Berg nails the Iran issue in a couple of sentences. Do you do the bloody work of ensuring this terrorist regime doesn’t obtain nukes now, or do you deal with them after they have nukes? It really is that simple and has been for almost a decade now.
Berg seems like one of the good guys in Hollywood. The production of “Battleship” partnered with the USO and has gone out of its way to honor veterans. The film itself, which opens stateside in a couple of days (and is already a hit overseas) will also screen at the upcoming G.I. Film Festival.
It’s good to see a major director like Berg (who’s also a very good actor) so openly and passionately embrace Israel’s right to defend herself, especially after his misstep with the film that put him on the map, “The Kingdom:”
A few months back, Peter Berg attended a test screening of his new film in California — not Malibu or Beverly Hills, but out in farm country. The Kingdom is about FBI agents (Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, etc.) investigating a terrorist attack on Americans in Saudi Arabia, and finally, about two hours in, the star talent gets to kill a bunch of jihadists. As Entertainment Weekly described it, “the packed house went completely bonkers, erupting in cheers” — and poor old Berg was distraught. “I was nervous it would be perceived as a jingoistic piece of propaganda, which I certainly didn’t intend,” the director agonized. “I thought, ‘Am I experiencing American bloodlust?’ “
Which probably explains the film’s downer ending, the king of all sucker punches, that still makes me angry every time I think of it.
Looks like Berg is all growed up now.
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