It was Oded Ben-Ami who gave the signal, with a self-satisfied grin on his saccharine evening news show: "Israeli pride, twice over even," he dubbed the advance of two Israeli documentaries to the final stage of the Academy Awards. These two excellent films, Guy Davidi and Emad Burnat's "5 Broken Cameras" and "The Gatekeepers," directed by Dror Moreh, are indeed Oscar-worthy; the Israel of Ben-Ami and his ilk cannot claim bragging rights to them. Davidi did well when he hastened to bravely declare "I do not represent Israel."

This is not a matter of Israeli pride, but rather of Israeli chutzpah. Of "5 Broken Cameras" I wrote here that it "should make every decent Israeli ashamed of being an Israeli" (October 5, 2012 ). About "The Gatekeepers": "This jolting film is a must-see: A feeling of nausea and deep disgust wells up at its end" (December 30, 2012 ). The odds that one of them will get the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature are high. It isn't difficult to imagine the victory bash if that happens. Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat will give thanks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will make a congratulatory phone call and Ben-Ami will be in seventh heaven.

The festivities must be stopped. These films were made despite Israel, not because of Israel. They represent not official Israel but rather the other Israel, maligned and vilified. Davidi and Burnat showed the occupation in all its violence and ugliness, in light of the desperate war for justice waged by the brave village of Bil'in. You never saw the truth from Bil'in on Ben-Ami's program, nor on the other Israeli television stations; most of the newspapers, too, concealed it. They only told you about "public disturbances" and flying rocks, not about the children abducted under the cover of darkness, the brutality of the soldiers and the justness of the demonstrators, as they are revealed in the movie.

Moreh presents the same picture of ugliness and desperation, from the mouths of the six surviving former heads of the Shin Bet security service - one of whom, Avraham Shalom, even compares the conduct of the Israel Defense Forces with that of the occupying forces of Nazi Germany. You did not hear this in the Israeli media, either. In the place where Israel's news media is derelict in its duty, its documentary film industry bravely steps in. This industry is now up for yet another prestigious award. That's terrific, but Israel should be ashamed of what these movies bring to light - and it is not.

It doesn't even have the right to be proud of the fact that such films are made here. The things that are seen and heard in these films are only ever condemned, denounced and delegitimized at home. But it is precisely Israel's dissidents, and only its dissidents, who receive recognition abroad. They serve the interests of the state much more than all its nationalists and propagandists.

If there is any positive feeling toward Israel remaining in the world, it derives from the endeavors of the small number of Israelis who dare to voice criticism from within, to expose and protest the injustices of the occupation. Davidi and Moreh - together with a small handful of other artists, intellectuals and human rights activists - are the ones who make the difference between Israel and more benighted regimes. It is they who preserve the remains of its good name - and are scorned in Israel for doing so.

Despite their success abroad, these films - like others of their kind - have failed to provoke any genuine public debate in Israel. If one of them wins an Oscar, local celebrity-watcher Guy Pines will report from the red carpet in Los Angeles and Anashim (Israel's People magazine) will interview the tuxedoed filmmakers. The harsh messages of their films will not set off any earthquakes here, as they should have done long ago.

The day the Oscar nominations were announced, another "Israeli pride" achievement was reported: Israeli security exports increased 20 percent last year. Weapons and means of destruction, some of which were tested first on the Palestinians - especially those living in the prison called the Gaza Strip - are big sellers abroad. There you have it, the sources for Israeli pride, circa 2013: arms trade, which never comes up for discussion in Israel, and the disclosure of the truth about the occupation - it, too, is never debated in Israel. With pride like that, who needs shame?