The thing hidden from the eye Israel today

The price of exposing the discussions.

It's hard for me to accept the sweeping lawsuit for exposing confidential government discussions.

I agree that the secrecy surrounding the deliberations of the state's highest institutions was excessive, and that there are considerable advantages in presenting the deliberations of decision - makers and legislators to the public, when things happen, and not just when historians flip through old protocols.

But the transition from "smoky rooms" to the brightness of the sun, must, in my opinion, be careful.

As government secretary, four decades ago, I was surprised that all government discussions were defined as "top secret."

The automatic classification caused leaks and violations, and my attempts to reduce its level were unsuccessful.

But the ministers' sense that in government meetings - and certainly in security cabinet meetings - they are allowed to be more free and reveal their true opinions, has promised serious discussions.

In governments where collective responsibility is significant, and whose ministers are not inclined to speak out in condemnation of government decisions, or in condemnation of the Prime Minister's position in public, the level of debate resulting from its existence in the closed room is of great importance.

There is no doubt that the nature of the discussion in the Knesset committees changed for the worse after they were opened to full media coverage.

I do not rule out the possibility that full disclosure of the discussions brings certain benefits (such as public involvement and solutions from the public exposed to the various positions), but the price is very heavy: the cheapness of the discussion, the danger of calling it, and often - behavior that takes into account himself.

The solution is not in the full opening of discussions, such as those conducted, for example, in the Corona Cabinet, but in their measured opening. The Supreme Court found its golden path in the partial and measured opening of its hearings. Minutes from ministerial discussions can also be measured, according to the prime minister's decision.

Opportunity for a necessary revolution. With the establishment of the State of Israel, there was no justification for the existence of the Jewish Agency, which until then had played an extremely significant role, but like many other organizations, it remained, because it was already there.

There is a state and there is a government, and in the government there is an aliyah and absorption ministry and there is a ministry for Diaspora affairs, while the agency, in fact, prevents its logical replacement: a global Jewish body, which represents the many shades of the people and is a meeting place. Different ideas how to secure.

The Jewish Agency needs to reinvent itself, and the one who has a real chance to do so is the one who was the Minister of Aliyah and Absorption, and Justice, and Foreign Affairs - Tzipi Livni, who proved her leadership in her public positions.

It was recently reported that she was offered to head the important government company NTA (urban transportation routes). Transporting the masses in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area is a fascinating and not a simple challenge, and I am convinced she will meet it, but changing the face of the Jewish Agency is more important.