On the trail of a priceless dove, a group of Palestinians and Israelis find that peace is for the birds
In ‘Bella,’ a man must navigate Israel’s borders to get back his father’s prized dove
Elisha Banai (left) plays Yaki, a struggling musician searching for a dove with the help of Bilal, played by Hanna Birakh (right), in Bella. Courtesy of Marlene Meyerson JCC
By Olivia Haynie November 7, 2025
When Yaki, a struggling Israeli musician, learns his late father’s beloved dove is worth tens of thousands of dollars, he knows he’s found the key to supporting his fledgling career. There’s just one problem: Yaki has given the dove away.
Bella, co-directed by Israeli filmmakers Jamal Khalaily and Zohar Shachar, chronicles the tumultuous road trip Yaki embarks on to retrieve the prized bird, with the assistance of his girlfriend Limor, and a Palestinian couple, Bilal and Najris. Although the conflict over the ownership of the dove occasionally feels like a heavy-handed metaphor for the struggle for peace in the region, the story balances funny and heartfelt moments.
It’s virtually impossible for a film about Israel to avoid mentioning Israeli-Palestinian relations, but at first, the tensions are only acknowledged in offhand ways. A representative of the Israeli Pigeon Fanciers’ Administration casually tells Yaki that Bilal can’t have the bird because “Arabs eat them.” But as the group encounters military checkpoints and ethnic profiling along their journey, the disparities in Israeli society become impossible to ignore.
The film refutes a popular misconception of Israeli-Palestinian relations that has not been addressed much in other media: that the dynamics can be understood as operating exactly the same as white-Black racism in America.
A narrative common among the American left is that Israeli society is white and Palestinians are brown, therefore the system of oppression can be approached using the same analytical and political tools of racial justice movements in America. But it would not be appropriate to categorize Israelis and Palestinians into the American racial framework, as both of these ethnic groups are incredibly racially diverse. There also aren’t definite phenotypical distinctions between the two groups. When Limor tells the Israeli soldiers guarding a checkpoint that Bilal and Najris are Israeli, they don’t argue with her.
The film exposes the fact that the prejudices have less to do with appearance or actions, and more with the assumptions made about specific ethnic groups.
At one point, the group has to travel to Area A of the West Bank for a wedding. A sign warns that it is illegal and dangerous for Israelis to be there, but Bilal tells the Palestinian Authority guards that Yaki and Limor are from Brussels. He brings them to the wedding where they are greeted warmly. The wedding singer even includes them in his song praising the various guests.
But when Bilal’s son Omar accidentally exposes their true identities, the mood sours, despite the fact that Yaki and Limor haven’t acted in any way that would warrant criticism. Bilal and Najris rush the couple out of the wedding for their safety, as Bilal’s brother in law berates him for “bringing Jews to the wedding.”
From what the film shows, peace among Israeli and Palestinians should seemingly be easy. Without the labels and preconceived notions, these two groups of people would be able to enjoy life together. But reality is never that simple and peace, like the dove, seems way out of reach.
The film Bella is having its U.S. debut at the Other Israel Film Festival at the Marlene Meyerson JCC in New York City on Thursday, Nov. 13.
