Deputy Premier Yigal Allon wants security officers to shadow Cabinet members to prevent leakages to the press of matters discussed at closed Cabinet meetings. Mr. Allon demanded such surveillance at last Sunday’s Cabinet meeting according to an apparently leaked report which the newspaper Haaretz published today. Cabinet proceedings are protected by Israeli law. When the Cabinet constitutes itself a special security committee, news media are forbidden under penalty of severe punishment from publishing anything that transpires at the sessions. But the Cabinet is reportedly concerned with the growing number of leakages and wants to find out who is responsible, Haaretz said.
One minister who was unidentified reportedly spoke to Haaretz’s Knesset correspondent recently. He allegedly referred to certain proposals made in the Cabinet by Mr. Allon and said he would resign from the government if they were adopted. The leakage of stories is a hallowed custom in Israel as in many other countries that have a free press. Some leaks are inspired but others frequently embarrass authorities. Several Cabinet ministers are known to have a special relationship with certain journalists whom they provide with selected items of information in return for various favors. Some of these journalists often sell part of their information to foreign newsmen.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
