Post by Moses on Dec 28, 2004 19:37:09 GMT -5
National Archivist Resigns in Protest Over Secrecy
20:14 Dec 28, '04 / 16 Tevet 5765
Israel's national archivist, Dr. Tuvia Friedling, is accusing the Shabak (General Security Service) and the Mossad intelligence agency of withholding information that is supposed to be public.
He has resigned in protest after a three-year tenure.
Dr. Friedling explained that in 1998, the 50-year "secret" classification of secret defense documents from the time of Israel's establishment expired - but that the public has still not been permitted to see them. He added that already in 1996, former national archivist Dr. Evyatar Prizel gave warning to the security establishment leaders of this expected development.
The law stipulates that all documents are to be de-classified after 50 years. Dr. Prizel informed the security chiefs that if they intended to keep the documents classified, the law would have to be amended.
When Friedling took over the position, Dr. Prizel informed him that the security establishment did not intend to take the steps he had recommended. After investigating the matter, Friedling told the security chiefs that not allowing the public free access to the documents was against the law. "The public's right to know, and compliance with the Archives Law, are [both] an integral part of our democracy," Friedling told Haaretz newspaper.
Friedling is demanding that access be provided to the officially de-classified documents. Mossad chief Efraim HaLevy advised him to approach the next head of the Mossad, Meir Dagan, about the problematic behavior of the security establishment with regard to the matter.
According to Friedling, the heads of the Mossad, the Shabak and Nativ agreed at one point to consider the possibility of keeping the documents legally classified for an additional twenty years - but in the end, they did nothing about it. Nativ is an organization responsible for contact with Jews of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe during Communist rule.
Friedling decried the fact that despite his official position, he had no way to compel the security establishment to comply with the law and open the archives to the public.
Some of controversial issues into which researchers hope to gain insight through the declassification of the documents include the disappearance of up to 1,000 children of Yemenite immigrants in the early days of the State. Another issue is what some feel are the "questionable" tactics adopted by early Labor Zionists against Jewish underground organizations and in cooperation with British Mandatory restrictions on Jewish immigration to Israel.
20:14 Dec 28, '04 / 16 Tevet 5765
Israel's national archivist, Dr. Tuvia Friedling, is accusing the Shabak (General Security Service) and the Mossad intelligence agency of withholding information that is supposed to be public.
He has resigned in protest after a three-year tenure.
Dr. Friedling explained that in 1998, the 50-year "secret" classification of secret defense documents from the time of Israel's establishment expired - but that the public has still not been permitted to see them. He added that already in 1996, former national archivist Dr. Evyatar Prizel gave warning to the security establishment leaders of this expected development.
The law stipulates that all documents are to be de-classified after 50 years. Dr. Prizel informed the security chiefs that if they intended to keep the documents classified, the law would have to be amended.
When Friedling took over the position, Dr. Prizel informed him that the security establishment did not intend to take the steps he had recommended. After investigating the matter, Friedling told the security chiefs that not allowing the public free access to the documents was against the law. "The public's right to know, and compliance with the Archives Law, are [both] an integral part of our democracy," Friedling told Haaretz newspaper.
Friedling is demanding that access be provided to the officially de-classified documents. Mossad chief Efraim HaLevy advised him to approach the next head of the Mossad, Meir Dagan, about the problematic behavior of the security establishment with regard to the matter.
According to Friedling, the heads of the Mossad, the Shabak and Nativ agreed at one point to consider the possibility of keeping the documents legally classified for an additional twenty years - but in the end, they did nothing about it. Nativ is an organization responsible for contact with Jews of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe during Communist rule.
Friedling decried the fact that despite his official position, he had no way to compel the security establishment to comply with the law and open the archives to the public.
Some of controversial issues into which researchers hope to gain insight through the declassification of the documents include the disappearance of up to 1,000 children of Yemenite immigrants in the early days of the State. Another issue is what some feel are the "questionable" tactics adopted by early Labor Zionists against Jewish underground organizations and in cooperation with British Mandatory restrictions on Jewish immigration to Israel.