The security agencies claim that the extension of confidentiality comes with the aim of “preventing the detection of sources of intelligence information, methods of work used by the devices today, in addition to information originating from foreign sources.”

It is noteworthy that Netanyahu had signed a similar order in 2010 extended the confidentiality of archives from 50 to 70 years.

According to Haaretz, the legal adviser to the so-called “State Archive”, Naomi Aldubi, distributed to the ministries yesterday, Wednesday, a draft of instructions that include the materials contained in the Shin Bet and Mossad, in addition to the archives of the Atomic Energy Commission, and nuclear research centers and the Biological Institute.

It will also prevent the deployment of items of the Army Intelligence Division, information related to the collection of intelligence classified as “secret” or higher, and items related to certain units in the army and the Ministry of Security.

As a result, the decision not to disclose these materials will make it difficult for historians, researchers and journalists to impose restrictions on the public at large, including items related to the Deir Yassin massacre in the village of Deir Yassin in 1948.

The country’s archival laws state that every citizen has the right to access material stored in the State Archive, but gives the government the power to restrict access by classification of materials, such as those classified as “confidential” or according to the length of time passed.

This period ranges from 15 to 70 years, depending on the content and source of the materials. For example, the minutes of meetings of the Knesset committees are kept secret for 20 years, the material on foreign policy is kept secret 25 years, the police archives are 30 years old, the minutes of the mini-cabinet are 50 years, the intelligence materials, including the Shabak and the Mossad, the Institute for Biological Studies and the Committee on Energy The secret remains secret for 70 years.

The archives of the state, as well as other archives such as the Army Archive, do not initiate the disclosure of material, and the end of a period of confidentiality is not a sufficient condition for disclosure of material to the public. The relevant ministerial committee, chaired by the Minister of Justice, could impose other restrictions.

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