Despite there being an Israeli Military Censor's Office, the truth of the matter is that it is powerless. The intelligence agencies themselves will tell you that. This was clearly evident last week, when the Israeli military agreed to declassify the details of the strike against the Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007, which has long been attributed to Israel by foreign media.
The censors proudly claim that they managed to prevent the publication of most of the sensitive details on the operation. But the bad news is that even if those details are still classified, they are now on the various reporters' laptops exposed to various hackers.
In the Israel Defense Forces there are strict guidelines on how to handle classified material, and there have been several cases in which officers were removed because of mishandling sensitive information. But when it comes to reporters, the Israeli authorities handle them with kid gloves
Moreover, while the censors may declassify various details of an operation if they deem that there is no harm in doing so, they cannot control the wave of interviews that comes afterwards, definitely when they are conducted on air. In the case of the Syrian reactor, the release opened the floodgates for countless other details that were not supposed to be released.
News outlets and politicians exerted immense pressure on the military because they caught wind of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert writing about the reactor strike in his memoirs. On top of that, Channel 10 petitioned the High court of Justice to allow the declassification. This all resulted in a decision that lifted the restrictions and allowed Olmert and his allies to have interviews around the clock on the operation.
For Israel's enemies, the past few days were a gift from heaven, and now with the help of Israel's senior officers and politicians, Israel's intelligence assets are out in the open for everyone to see.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman conceded last week that had he known how much would get out, he would not have authorized the declassification.
But the writing was on the wall. This is not a case in which classified details are released without proper approval.
A similar thing happened several years back when investigative television program "Uvda" ("Fact") spoke to those who were involved in the plan to assassinate Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in the 1990s, which was shelved after a tragic mishap in the training phase that left five Israeli soldiers dead.
The host Ilana Dayan managed to speak with practically everyone involved, with each of them trying to absolve themselves of the debacle. By doing so, Israel's enemies got a front row view on the various means we have at our disposals for assassinating senior enemy officials.
We must take three steps to safeguard our secrets once again.
First, we must set up a parliamentary commission of inquiry to investigate the decision-making process that led to the declassification of the strike on Syria, its timing and whether it was designed to serve particular people or commercial interests. The commission must also ask whether the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet convened to discuss this matter or to prepare for a possible retaliation by the Syrian leader? We must ensure that vocal media figures can't force politicians and military officers to act in a certain way just in order to receive positive press.
Second, the Military Censor's Office must be moved outside the IDF into a separate entity, much like the National Cyber Bureau or the National Security Council Counterterrorism Bureau. Some of the officers at the unit vie for a promotion and seek to avoid conflict with the media. This new entity would have autonomous status and would not be influenced by outside pressure. This would also end the bizarre practice of having the military censors decide on intelligence that is gathered by the Mossad and the Shin Bet security agency.
Third, a group of veteran Israeli intelligence officers in the reserves must be set up to act as gatekeepers that would safeguard the country's secrets to ensure that the public's safety is not compromised.
