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BOOKS
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The Military Rule 1948-1966: annotated document collection
The Military Rule Book, published by Akevot Institute, is an illuminating curated collection of some 100 carefully selected, declassified documents of the 1948-1966 Military Rule. The documents include internal correspondences, meeting minutes, testimonies, maps, photos, and reports all organized and annotated to provide the reader with unprecedented insight into this silenced period of recent history.
The book is only available in Hebrew at this time. For further details and purchase
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Loot
Loot, a book by Akevot researcher Adam Raz, on the political implications of widespread looting of Palestinian property during and following the 1948 war. The book was released internationally by Verso Publishing House. The book was written as part of our research at Akevot and originally published in Hebrew by Carmel Publishing House. The book is based on a trove of archival materials kept in various Israeli archives.
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REPORTS
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These Matters are Unpleasant
The report These Matters are Unpleasant examines in depth the activities of the Ministerial Committee on Access to Restricted Archival Material and shows how this body is used to keep countless pages of archival records confidential and hidden from the public, without any legal authority to do so.
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Silencing
The report SILENCING: DSDE’s Concealment of Documents in Archives summarizes the findings of two years of research by Akevot Institute. The report reveals that for 17 years, the Director of Security of the Defense Establishment (DSDE), a Ministry of Defense division, has ordered to deny public access to individual documents and entire files in various archives with no legal authority to do so.
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Point of Access
Alongside preserving the records stored in it, the archive’s primary role is to provide the public with access to them. Akevot’s report Point of Access summarizes the findings of extensive research regarding the various barriers to access to Israel’s government archives. The report surveys the findings and presents recommendations for improving access and having the Government Archives fulfill their legal obligations.
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1.29%: Access to Israeli government archives
The data sheet 1.29%: state of access to Israeli government archives shows roughly 99% of materials deposited in Israel’s major government archives are unavailable for the public, while these archives deny public access to catalogue lists for 94% of the records they hold.
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IN THE PRESS
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Living in Denial as a Strategy
Published in Haaretz, July 14, 2024
The Israeli public’s embrace of ignorance about the Gaza war is an extension of a stance that began in 1967. How does an open society encourage systematic denial of abuse?
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It wasn’t the disengagement
Published in Haaretz, November 24, 2023
In seeking the historical origins of the October 7 debacle, we must go back to the decisions made by the premier a decade ago
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What is it about Ttat flag?
Published in Haaretz, February 17, 2023
Historical documents show the abysmal seriousness that Israel devoted to flag waving by Palestinians, and no less to the hoisting of the Israeli flag
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Border? What border?
Published in Haaretz, September 9, 2022
Minutes of top-secret cabinet meetings in 1967 reveal how the decision to erase the Green Line from Israel’s official map was made. And why not? The situation wasn’t meant to be permanent
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Where the Bodies Are Buried
Published in Haaretz, July 8, 2022
During the 1967 war, an elite Egyptian army unit sustained heavy losses near Kibbutz Nahshon. The bodies were interred in a mass grave, in fields tended but not owned by the kibbutz. The story was hushed up and the fields became part of the Mini Israel park
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A Buried War Crime is Unearthed
Published in Haaretz, January 21, 2022
More than seven decades later, in a new documentary film, the veterans of the 1948 battle at Tantura village finally come clean about the mass killing of Arabs that took place after the village’s surrender
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Classified Docs Reveal Massacres of Palestinians in '48 – and What Israeli Leaders Knew
Published in Haaretz, December 10, 2021
Minutes recorded during cabinet meetings in 1948 leave no room for doubt: Israel’s leaders knew in real time about the blood-drenched events that accompanied the conquest of the Arab villages
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‘Were You Ordered to Shoot Prisoners?’
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War Crimes and ‘Unpleasantness’: Israel’s censorship List
Published in Haaretz, October 20, 2021
The list of historical documents reveals suspicions that Haganah soldiers committed murder, torture, theft and looting during the War of Independence.
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"Half educated Arabs are Not a Cause for Worry"
Published in Haaretz, September 17, 2021
Extraordinary declassified documents reveal the reasons cited by Israel’s top security officials for repressing the country’s Arab minority.
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History in Shreds
Published in Haaretz, June 25, 2021
Official documents tend to disappear along with senior officials who retire. The real problem start when the defense establishment enters the picture.
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The Best-Laid Plans
Published in Haaretz, June 5, 2021
Contrary to the claim that Israel suddenly found itself holding territories after the June ’67 war, declassified documents reveal detailed directives drawn up by the IDF ahead of the prolonged policing mission it would be tasked with.
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When Israel Censored Poets for Being 'Tools of Expression of Arab Nationalism'
Published in Haaretz, May 21, 2021
Some 50 years ago, Druze poet Samih al-Qasim was indicted for not complying with state censorship rules before publishing a book of poems. Not all members of the Hebrew Writers Association agreed to act on his behalf. Finally, with Prime Minister Golda Meir’s intervention, his trial was canceled.
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‘I Saw Every Arab as an Enemy’
Published in Haaretz, January 8, 2021
Testimonies reveal the ways military rule embittered the lives of Israeli Arabs for almost two decades – and how the state tried to hide it.
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The Cleansing of the Golan Heights
Published in Haaretz, June 19, 2020
The popular propaganda film ‘Six Days’ glorified Israel’s achievements in the 1967 war – but an intolerable price was exacted during its shooting. -
Arab Citizens Behind Barbed Wire
Published in Haaretz, May 28, 2020
Documents in Israel’s State Archives reveal disturbing truths about the military restrictions imposed on Arab city dwellers during the War of Independence.
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ARTICLES AND RESEARCH
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Appropriate tools: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Amnesty’s Israel Section, 1969-1977
A series of documents reveals an important, and, until now, unknown aspect of the efforts the Israeli government made to deflect criticism over human rights violations which were part of the occupation since the very beginning. The documents describe events that took place during the first decade of the occupation, but they echo a practice that is still in existence today – manipulative efforts to undermine the work of human rights organizations. -
Insurance against political risk: Settlements and the Yanai governmental insurance corporation
Archival records, declassified at Akevot’s request, tell the story of the financial safety net Israeli government provided for settlers and investors in the occupied territories – referred to as a “political guarantee” or “political insurance”. As use of the government guarantees gradually expanded, a government insurance corporation was created. This is the story of the political guarantee in the occupied territories and the Yanai insurance corporation. -
File GL-17005/6: the reordering of control over Palestinian citizens of Israel at the late stages of the Military Government
Israel State Archives File GL-17005/6 from the Office of the Arab Affairs Advisor at the Prime Minister’s Office contains hundreds of pages that document some of the final chapter of the Military Government over Palestinian citizens of Israel, before it was formally replaced with civilian oversight mechanisms in December 1966. Akevot’s access to the 446-page file at the archives was delayed for two years.
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