Chief Military Censor Brig. Gen. Ariella Ben Avraham warned Sunday that declassifying the findings of a special committee dealing with Israeli captives could be harmful to Israel's security.
Ben Avraham appeared at the Tel Aviv District Court, in its capacity as an administrative court, to respond to a Movement for Quality Government in Israel petition asking to unseal the 2012 report. The document, known as the Shamgar Report, was commissioned in order to provide Israeli decision-makers with a coherent strategy aimed at securing the release of missing Israelis.
The terrorist group Hamas is believed to have possession of the bodies of Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul and Lt. Hadar Goldin, who were killed in the Gaza Strip in separate battles during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014. Ethiopian Israeli Avera Mengistu and Bedouin Israeli Hisham al-Sayed crossed into Gaza voluntarily in 2014 and 2015, and are believed to have been captured by Hamas. A fifth Israeli, Jumaa Abu Ghanima, was seen crossing into the Gaza Strip in 2016 and his fate remains unknown.
"I am not against having a public debate on how to bring back captive Israeli soldiers but I want to say something else: There are two Israeli soldiers whose bodies are held by Hamas, along with two living Israeli civilians. People are trying to bring them back as we speak, and therefore having the report released at this junction would compromise state security," Ben Avraham said in court.
When asked by the judge whether she would still be opposed had Israel not been engaged in efforts to bring back captives, she said: "My answer is yes." She explained that "just three weeks ago, I gave the green light to declassify something that took place over a decade ago," referring to the Israeli strike on a Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007.
"Any decision I make is based on the circumstances at the given moment, and I believe that releasing the report or portions of it would undermine state security as long as fallen soldiers and two civilians are at the hands of Hamas," she said. She added that after having reviewed the relevant material, "it is almost certain that releasing the report would hurt the efforts to bring them back, could delay their return and may force us to pay a steeper price."
