Uri and Katzman are Israeli soldiers occupying a Palestinian village in the West Bank. Uri is idealistic and full of hope, feels the injustice of the occupation keenly, and becomes close to Khilmi, the village storyteller. Katzman on the other hand is "a contracted muscle" - he has taught himself not to feel. And Shosh, Uri's wife, daughter of liberal immigrant parents and juvenile psychiatrist, is succumbing to her own struggles with power and truth.

When Khilmi's adopted son is killed in a "security operation" and when Uri discovers how far deception and injustice have penetrated into his own life, their reactions are drastic and unforeseen.