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IDF history dept. chief allegedly made soldiers help write his books
By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: IDF, israel, books, history

The Israel Defense Forces history department, which primarily investigates and documents historical incidents, is usually far from the spotlight.

But a military police investigation into charges that the department head misused public resources by forcing his employees to contribute to his books has shaken up the usually staid department.

Colonel Dr. Shaul Shay (Res.) is accused of demanding that his soldiers and officers help write his research books about the Middle East and global Islamic movements. This summer, during the height of the investigation against him, Shay ended his term as department head, unconnected to the allegations. He has since been appointed to a position no less prestigious: head of the security policy department at the National Security Council, which answers to the Prime Minister's Office.
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Chief military prosecutor Colonel Liron Liebman wrote to the head of the military police that military property may have been used for non-military purposes and that some unauthorized work was carried out. Shay denies the allegations.

"It appears that public resources were used for private purposes," said Edward Britcher of Kiryat Yam, whose complaint on behalf of his son, who worked for Shay, sparked the investigation. "My son was not the only one who was exploited as cheap labor in order to glorify the name of the history department head and to save on the cost of editing his books."

Britcher said that his son David Magen translated material from English that was then used in academic articles and a book by Shay. When Magen told his father, Britcher turned to Avner Barzani, the commissioner of soldier complaints. Barzani passed responsibility for the investigation to the chief military prosecutor.

The military police investigation includes a letter, compiled by a soldier, in which Shay agreed to work at a college in Ashkelon. "I didn't ask him if it was for work purposes or not," the soldier told Haaretz.

Books that Shay authored and co-authored include "Islamic Terror Abductions in the Middle East," "The Shahids: Islam and Suicide Attacks" and "The Globalization of Terror: The Challenge of Al-Qaida and the Response of the International Community."

Shay did not respond to repeated requests for comment, but his lawyer, Eitan Maoz, said that the complainant got the story backward and that Shay allowed the army to use information he had gathered privately.

"What happened here is that information was brought into the army, not the other way around," said Maoz. "This is information that Dr. Shay, as a veteran, experienced and esteemed historian, had gathered - and there is only one Shaul Shay. He saw fit to give the army use of this information. His private information was adapted for internal lectures in the army, and he should be praised for that. To turn the entire situation against him and argue that he exploited the army for his personal goals - that is not true, either legally or factually.

"I don't think this investigation will go anywhere," Maoz said.

The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that it was not aware of the investigation when Shay took his new post in November, and said it would examine the matter when the investigation produced final recommendations.
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