A state afraid of its past
The role of the security establishment and intelligence services is to protect the state in the present, not to hide the past.
Haaretz EditorialAbout two weeks ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed regulations restricting access to government archives. As Barak Ravid revealed yesterday in Haaretz, 50-year-old materials that were to be opened to the public for historical study will now remain classified for two more decades.
 |
The Jerusalem convent after the 1948 Independence War. |
| Photo by: Courtesy of Soeurs Reparatrices |
The decision was preceded by intense pressure from the defense establishment and intelligence services on the state archivist, Prof. Yehoshua Freundlich. The archivist accepted their position, and said "these materials are not fit for public viewing."
The information that remains classified deals, among other things, with the expulsions and massacres of Arabs in the War of Independence, Mossad operations in foreign countries, surveillance of opposition politicians by the Shin Bet security service in the 1950s and the establishment of the Biological Research Institute in Nes Tziona and the Nuclear Research Center in Dimona.
The material was not accessible to the public previously, and the new regulations merely put a retroactive stamp of legality on the closure of the archives, which until now was sealed illegally. The state archivist warned that some of the classified materials "has implications over [Israel's] adherence to international law."
His words suggest that the state will be seen as an outlaw if the past deeds of the security and intelligence services are made public. But his explanations are not reasonable. Israel, which this year celebrated its 62nd birthday, can and must confront the less than heroic chapters in its past and reveal them to the public and for historical study. The public has a right to know about the decisions made by the state's founders, even if they involved violations of human rights, covering up crimes or harassing political opponents by security means. The country is mature and strong enough to absorb the criticism that could arise if, for example, previously unpublished testimonies are discovered about the events at Deir Yassin.
The role of the security establishment and intelligence services is to protect the state in the present, not to hide the past. The new regulations, prepared in response to petitions by journalists to the High Court of Justice, reverse the trend of openness set in the Freedom of Information Law, which the Supreme Court called "a guiding law." Israelis should study history as it happened and as it was documented, not just a censored and prettified version.
Why Facebook Connect?
Comment on Haaretz.com articles with your Facebook login, and share your thoughts on your own wall.
- Latest
- Most Viewed
- Most Rated
- Open all
It seems obvious that the fact that Israel won't release information about Israeli forces' expulsion and massacre of Arabs during the War of Independence, implies that the Palestinians' claims in that regard are much closer to the truth than Israel's claims. Which would, of course, have tremendous implications for the question on the return of Palestinian refugees and their descendents.
i never believed that all things went right in israel in the last 50 years. however there is no going back to square one and keeping a lid on things for the time being might be a wise choice...the future of israel will have to stand or fall on the foundations set back then. mazel tov !
Pappe has done the research and has documented Israeli strategies and actions to "transfer" Palestinians. Einstein observed in a letter to the New York Times that Begin should never be allowed in the USA because of his war crimes against Palestinians. We are well aware of the culpability of Sharon in the massacre of Palestinians in Lebanon. Israel can continue to attempt to hide the facts, but the world has learned that Israel's past has significant moral failings. Rather than focus on the past, it would be well for Israel to focus on reconciliation with the Palestinians and the Arab world. There have been moral and ethical abuses that can be corrected. However Israelis continue to want to believe in a fantasy of righteousness and purity. This is not the Judaism of truth and justice. This is not the Judaism of my heritage. Israelis have produced a nation-centric Judaism that has become an affront to the Jewish faith. Einstein predicted this in 1948, and it has come to pass.
This is exact one of the resin for no allowing the disclosure for confussed people with distorsed perception, oberhuhems and media which after de facto throw unersponsable comments and don't forget is not Europe and the different circumstances and resources dictate the approach corresponding to the situation and during the war errors happens. Lebanon war when Christian Lebanese killed Palestian as revenge of suffer,rape, killing of Christians by PLO is a clasic case which was examinate in Israel still you can argue but in this new circumstances it's as a symptom of total cruelty which predominating in arab world, and we should not show any mercy to cruelty as is Israel response it is and should be.
Excellent response Vladek, I wish everyone would take the time to research the History of the Invasion of the Zionists and get the real story. Instead of spouting off and showing their ignorance of the facts .........
she was afflicted with Down-syndrome and besides ,owing up to her would hamper his career .
certainly interesting.the overriding fact,however,remains,what we do now,with the problem on our hands.in other words do we continue deepening our hold,or do we contemplate another track,which would include reliquishing territory.i think left and right agree this is the most important question.my guess ;is what will be.as far as foreseeable.
I guess not . Deir Yassin became a buggy man for anti Israeli media to harass Israel . Read the history , it was a huge terrorist nest that murdered many Israeli doctors and nurses on the way to treat people of Jerusalem , including Arabs . Disproportion , when unimaginable terror are committed and a war is going on , is not outrageous , just a normal act to defend yourself .
...why would you be afraid of the facts being made public? "A huge terrorist nest" sounds sufficiently scary for the World to understand the necessity of Israeli crimes?
What about Egypt, Syria, Lebanon & Jordan opening their archives? What past are they afraid of?
"What about Egypt, Syria, Lebanon & Jordan opening their archives?" These states do not claim to be democratic as Israel brag about being the only "democracy" in the ME.
Concealing these documents for an additional 2 decades has to be done to hide material from people who are assumedly and naively proud of their countries actions. There is no need to be afraid of the past if you have nothing to be afraid of. Now this action will raise the spectre of evil deeds and increase peoples curiosity. Wikileaks will shortly expose them anyway!
In most countries the minimum waiting period is between 50 - 70 years 20 years it to short especially when it comes to Israeli politics where somebody who was a politician 20 years ago is still a serving politician and these documents might be damaging to their career. Military people are almost certainly going to still be serving after just 20 years. The main point of having waiting periods is to ensure that its will have no impact on current issues and generally waiting till anybody concerned is dead. I don't see anything contreversial about extending a 20 year rule to a 70 year rule which is the average waiting time in most western countries. If its ok for the US or Europe to have 50 - 70 year rules why should it be wrong for Israel to extend its waiting period? Whe the US change their waiting period to 20 years then it will be wrong for Israel to wait 70 years. Lets not hold Israel to a double standard here
Dear zionisist forever, I agree. Let's just call it, 'constructive ambiguity'. Yes, the rest of the world knows about double standards, lies, and hypocracy. Israel excels at this. Salaam/Shalom
It cannot change its past.
I personaly would really like to know why an once very activ old friend prefered to live in Germany.
I know we did mistakes like any country, and we should pay for those mistakes. Claiming that the world does not critic the Arabs, and only scrutinize the Jews, is no excuse for trying to correct our wrong doings. The state of Israel is now submerged by an enormous amount of disinformation. I believe the undisclosed material, although uncomfortable for us, will be meaningless compared to the sea of antisemitism we encounter right now. We might even benefit when people see that the reality was much nicer than the mischievous propaganda. On the other hand, there is no point in requiring similar disclosures from the Europeans or Arabs. They support Hamas who openly claim they want to kill all Jews. Europe peace lovers cheered up when they saw Jewish children die in Sderot, yet called us Nazis when we reacted. So nothing will help. But nothing can go worse either: its true that Europe would not critic the Arab states if, for example in 67', they would have annihilated the state of Israel. But what moral values can you expect from Europeans slave mentality, who gave up all their very elegant original culture and beliefs (e.g. Stonehedge?, Odin?, Thor?), for the Roman Medieval Christian heritage imposed on them. This mentality does not change: before our own eyes, they again give away their beliefs to another religion, Islam. We should open all the data, for our own knowledge and values, regardless of the world immorality.
Europe has given up it's beliefs? Stonehenge is a Pagan site - did you want them to remain Pagans? Europe has evolved and absorbed new ideas/cultures while retaining their ancient customs,as all countries should.
The reason of Holocaust is the accusations that Jews killed a Jew called Jesus. This tale was fabricated by Emperor Constantin for his politics (to justify the integration of Christianity in Rome, while Rome killed Jesus). The only way for Europe is to go back and restart from there. If not, young people will leave European Christianity anyway. The Holocaust finished Europe as a Christian nation. Hiding behind the EU walls won't help either.
If your position that the Emperor Constantin fabricated the story is true, he was certainly an powerful man because it appears in documents written centuries before he was born.
There are limits to moral judgements on political acts after the fact. Do historians have the right to judge whether the American colonists took away a continent from its Indian inhabitants or whethter the Israelites were morally correct in exterminating the inhabitants of Canaan?After a while, the morality of political acts becomes irrelevant and perhaps rightly so. The fact that the petitioners for the release of the documents are journalists and not historians, taints their motives.
it might have a bearing on the present,else it may have been declassified.otherwise i fully concur with you.there remains only one old dillema-to withdraw,or not to withdraw,that is the question.-the rest is a massive smokescreen.this has been long decided and answered,but the question still remains,as tenacious as israel,america,despite their best efforts. how do you see the core problem layed to rest?
The gist of your message is quite right. I don't know if keeping the documents classified is the right or wrong decision, but a type of "statute of limitations" needs to apply to countries just as it does to individuals. Present day America isn't pre-Civil War America, China is no longer Mao's China, etc...and I would hate to be held responsible for actions in my youth.
The gist of your message is quite right. I don't know if keeping the documents classified is the right or wrong decision, but a type of "statute of limitations" needs to apply to countries just as it does to individuals. Present day America isn't pre-Civil War America, China is no longer Mao's China, etc...and I would hate to be held responsible for my actions in my youth.
It is a cliche phrase of politicians pushing for their own agenda. In this case media stoops to the same level.
Not coincidentally ,many Israel-bashers come from that country
Don't give us this rubbish about mass murderers for oil. Wasn't it the US in the 70s and 80s who allowed funds to go to the IRA so they could buy arms from Libya to blow up innocent civilians in England ?
The country has not demonstrated maturity in standing up to criticism following the violations to international law in executing the Freedom Flotilla attack, in wiping out 1,400 Palestinians from Gaza in Dec-Jan 08-09 and injuring thousands. Rather it has tried to demonise critics. The country is not mature and in fact is weak. This is owing to flimsy moral ground on which it stands. It needs to come to terms with its past, have VICTIMS come to terms with it, heal, and then move forward. Banning archive access for another 20 years is very much in keeping with an insecure and immature state.
cant get your way? typical infantile lefty attitude
trying to say that the right accepts actions of the government and doesn't whine when it doesn't get its own way?
Arguably, a "country's wishes" are--in practical terms-- those "wishes" expressed by the "folks in control" at any given time. (And history is FULL of examples of when "whining" at those "wishes"--would have been a VERY GOOD IDEA.)
It is called freedom of expression and public discourse, Chafeeka. Real democracies depend on it. Fascist states, on the other hand, prohibit it.
this includes all democracies. all democracies have done acts that so-called international jurists would decry. israel is in a more difficult situation than any other democracy given the continual security threats she faces. should those threats be neutralised, then maybe the archives will be opened.
I would bet good money that what Israel wants to hide is not the gory details, but the proof that the state KNEW that it was contravening int'l law even as it claimed it was acting within those laws. Duplicity, in a word. It's never a good look, and Israel doesn't want the world to see that duplicity is actually "Israeli Policy".
the nub of the present ,eh...dispute.
When every action Israel takes now is described as a breach of international law (and by people who wouldn't recognize a law book if it dropped on their foot) and the most popular tactic among Israel's enemies is delegitimization, we don't need to give them more ammunition by revealing dubious actions committed 70 years ago. The criticisms on this page haven't placed the new state's actions in their historical context, a time shortly after America had dropped two atom bombs, Chechoslovakia was expelling 2 million Sudeten Germans and the UK still ruled India. Others won't either. I want to know what's in those files but I can wait. The editorial hasn't persuaded me that Israel is in a strong enough position to handle the reactions, and the talkbacks prove that Israel's critics aren't mature enough deliver sensible ones.
Huh ? Do ya think ?
I think Israel has a whole lot to hide starting from the Balfour decree ..............
I think Israel has a whole lot to hide starting from the Balfour decree ..............
Israel must hide these documents until a final peace agreement is signed and the ink dried to protect former government officials from war crimes prosecution.
the entire west, with very rare exceptions, from 1945 until today, have committed worse war crimes. the us had given immunity to the japanes general who had developed biological weapons and experimented on pow's, including americans, and took him to ft. dietrich to set up the biological weapons program. of course, those who are not democracies, are even worse. but those we shall not mention.
war crimes are incidental to one of the two main subjects.
They're all dead, Absolute Sweden.
whoever it is thank you, keeps our work easier to sustain that fact, and to keep people focused on the right of palestinians .
Because there never was a country called Palestine the inhabitants of Palestine who call themselves Palestinians are ARABS tand they belong with you in JOrdan shalom
How is it possible to continue these canards without hiding the past? These canards are the lifeblood. This country depends on this for it's reflexive support. Opening the archives would force this country to grow up and be a nation among nations, but she is still not ready to walk--Let alone live by democratic principles.
And maybe what's being concealed is not so much individual instances of questionable activities and events, but rather the ongoing agendas and programs behind them, which would likely cast Israel in a completely different light than the image, so meticulously tailored, which it projects of itself.
The op-Ed misses the point by arguing that the State and its defense establishment are mature enough to face the truth of past war crimes perpetrated by the IDF. That would have been true were the state's military establishment behave within the norm of International law. If indeed these protected documents 'prove' that war crimes have been committed beyond Deir Yassin and Tantura, then they will lend credence to the accusation that Israel is habitually a rogue state.
and then Natanyahu ran down the streets of Jerusalem singing" nah nah nah nah nah I have a deep dark secret but I'm not telling! " Oh Bibi...your so silly..
many countries were borne out of injustic and tragedy... look at america..its better to know and come to terms with it either way and move foward. simply for safety purposes on both sides ,making it a combined jewish palestinian state..at least at this time... would just cause a repeat of the 48 war..more death...but maybe one day...and the government wouldn't agree to it, right or wrong, its the painful reality peace and quality of life come 1st, before anger , before a sense of justice, before revenge..or whats rightfuly yours or mine..of course thats easier for an israeli to say than a palestinian because regardless of whose fault it was..and it's fruitless to cast blame because non of us were alive in 48, the palestinians got the short end of the stick fighting wont get us anywhere, it will only cause more injustice for the palestinians and more death on both sides.The only solution is to take a pragmatic approach and move on and make the best of our life regardless of our circumstances.
tellling about "illiegitimate" way they created their borders or their entire countries from 1945-1950
maybe you need to begin to face that? this will not just dissapear, is this the inheritance bill you want to hand down to your children?
,murdered and subjugated the native people ,their descendants opened (very ,very hesitantly) borders to some other Europeans ,amongs others Kapos fleeing the post-war Europe. Now CJ ,one of the Kapos rants over the "past". "Do you want to hand over the past of luetics to your children,Kapo CJ?"
the US doesn't face the kind of opposition to its very existence that Israel faces
Wrong for the Europeans who invaded the Americas, Africa, Australia, etc., just as wrong for the European Jews who murdered, exiled and robbed the native Palestinians. Since that happened relatively recently, just as colonialism was on its way out, there is still time to repair the wrongs.