48 years after the Yom Kippur War: Dozens of documents of recorded government discussions are released

Among the more than a thousand pages that were finally opened to the public by the State Archives, one can find the "raw material recorded during the dramatic events": minutes of government meetings during the war, sensitive policy-security consultations and documentation of what was happening in Prime Minister's Golda Meir office.

The State Archives today (Wednesday) unveiled 61 documents, spread over 1,292 pages and documenting some of the government discussions during the Yom Kippur War. This, on the 48th anniversary of the outbreak of the war, is a date marked today. Among the documents revealed are minutes of government meetings, documentation of sensitive policy-security consultations and also the diaries of Eli Mizrahi, director of the office of then-Prime Minister Golda Meir. All documents are open to the public on the State Archives website. "For the first time in 48 years, one can follow the dynamics that took place within the government regarding the Yom Kippur War, and be exposed to the panic, dilemmas, arguments and complex relationships that prevailed between the heads of state - those who led the heavy fighting and those who led the policy," said State Archivist Ruthi Abermov. "The many pages now open to the public are the original raw archival material written during the dramatic events, both in the political arena, in the military arena and in the international arena, of one of the historic events in the history of Israeli state and society." The publication of the current documents follows a petition to the High Court of Justice filed by the Yom Kippur War Center, Maj. And following the release of minutes of government meetings and cabinet discussions by the IDF archives and the defense establishment.