The story of a Palestinian widow who must defend her lemontree field when a new Israeli Defense Minister moves next to her and threatens to have her lemon grove torn down.

The story is set in Jerusalem in the winter of 1959. Shmuel Ash, a sensitive student who has dropped out of university because his father's finances have collapsed, takes a live-in job as a companion to an elderly, incapacitated man, Gershom Wald, who needs someone to argue with. Wald learns from Shmuel that he has stopped working on his thesis, which dealt with Jewish views on Jesus. The conversation between these two protagonists revolves around the humanity of Jesus. Shmuel tells Wald about his alternative theory on Judas Iscariot: he says he believes Judas was not a traitor at all but, in fact, the truest believer in Jesus's divinity. Furthermore, a relationship develops between Shmuel and Wald's daughter-in-law, Atalia Abravanel, a sensual and mysterious woman. Shmuel falls in love with her in what becomes a tender coming-of-age tale.

Past Life tracks the daring late 1970s odyssey of two sisters - an introverted classical musician and a rambunctious scandal sheet journalist - as they unravel a shocking wartime mystery that has cast a dark shadow on their entire lives.

The film delves into an almost forgotten event that took place in Kfar Qasim in October 1956, when 47 innocent civilians were shot and killed by Israeli Border Police soldiers. Through a gripping narrative structure, like a suspenseful legal drama, the film unfolds the historical, political, and psychological reality that had shaped and triggered the event. A cinematic montage created by the intertwined plotlines, emphasizes immense gaps, conflicting narrative, and deep divides between Jews and Arabs who are destined to live together on the same land. If we begin to recognize these gaps, will there be hope for reconciliation?