Israel’s outgoing chief archivist warned that most of the contents of Israeli archives which include war crimes and human rights violations is closed and will never be opened.
In a scathing report issued Monday and published by Haaretz on Wednesday Yaakov Lazovik summarized the issues faced by the Israel State Archives which is subordinate to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Lazovik who announced his retirement eight months after more than six years on the job said that under the cloak of national security concerns Israeli government conceals from the public material much of it unrelated to security issues. This includes material that could prove embarrassing to the government such as human rights violations.
According to Lazovik Israelis have committed war crimes. The Shin Bet security service was involved in education in the Arab sector; Israel treated its Arab (and other) citizens in a manner that doesn’t dignify a self-proclaimed democratic entity.
He added that among three million files shelved in the government archives only 550 have been opened.
