Ruti Abramovitch, the state archivist, threatened other archives in a letter, writing that "any archives holding a document defined as classified may be subject to severe penalties, including imprisonment."
The Association of Israeli Archivists expressed fears that documents moved to the State Archives could become inaccessible to the public, as many documents in the Archives are inaccessible due to technical bureaucratic and other limitations, according to Haaretz.
The state archivist warned that she had heard reports of other archives housing state materials, which, she wrote, belong in the State Archives and in the agency in which they were composed. Heavy penalties, including incarceration, can be imposed if classified state materials are found in the possession of unauthorized people. These penalties are not usually mentioned and have not been known to have ever been imposed, according to Haaretz.
The Supreme Court ruled last year that historical documents composed by state employees should be in the State Archives.
Amendments to the Archives Law made in 1981 (Article 4) state "Any archival material of state institutions prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, and any archival material of an institution of state or local authority that has ceased to exist and no other institution inherits, and any archival material of an institution of state or local authority that is no longer needed shall be deposited in the Archives."
The Archives Law (Article 10) also allows the State Archivist to define material as classified and restrict access to it, if it could cause harm to state security or foreign relations or violate privacy rights. The State Archivist's decision must be approved by a committee of three ministers. The committee can also allow the archivist to restrict access to materials due to "other reasons," according to the law.
A senior official familiar with the State Archives told Haaretz that the archivist is trying to close off the possibility of studying the history of Israeli governments. "This is an attempt by the state to take over the historical discourse in Israel through a monopolistic domination of all documents. This shows a lack of understanding of historical research and of public discourse in a democratic country," said the official to Haaretz.
Israel's Freedom of Information Law of 1955 stipulates that the freedom of information law does not apply "to information transferred by a public authority to the State Archives in accordance with the Archives Law 5715-1955."