1)Another video shows an officer (I assume general) who, according to my hebrew speaking friends, said the armor is passive and explosive reactive, and also it'll feature an APS.
The authority on designing this vehicle is MANTAK, so I assume he's the CEO. It's as credible as it gets.
2)as pointed out earlier, the narrow door and sponsons (which DO contain NBC and AC like in the Namer) is a deliberate design feature copied from the Namer. When dismounting, the soldiers are temporarily highly vulnerable to enemy fire because they're occupied with exiting the vehicle. The sponsons come to protect them from sniper fire during that time. Only their legs are exposed but if hit, those will be non fatal hits.
3)automotive components are COTS and/or MOTS as someone explained in a game's forum and it's not yet clear whether this is just for the prototype phase or this'll remain during production. Either way, it's a great way to further cut costs.