To Home Page About Contact Information The archive terms of use Declassification Laws and Regulations Data from Personnel Files Information from Subject Files Questions and answers Declassification Criteria Volunteering at the IDFA External Links Pre IDF Archives Price List Documentation types Files The Leaflet and Poster Collection The Audio Visual Documentation The Map collection Publications Photographs The archive library The Audio Documentation Services Scrutiny request Classified materials scrutiny request Archiving materials Request for use / publication / reuse of materials Volunteering Jewish combatant questionnaire Exhibitions David Ben Gurion and the IDF Basic assumption on the eve of the War of Independence The establishment of the IDF The end of The War of Independence The Price of War The Commander's Character The IDF's organization and roles The situation of the army and the security needs What should not be learnt from the Sinai War? The security portfolio was imposed on me… Farewell to the IDF testBigExhib תמונות תערוכה סרטוני תערוכה מסמכי תערוכה The Jewish Combatant Collection Questions and answers Contact us! World War I – General Information World War I – Jewish Soldiers in the Austro-Hungarian army World War I – Jewish soldiers if the German Army World War I – Jewish soldiers in the Russian Army World War I – the story of a Jewish soldier – Paul Schoenfeld World War II – the story of a Jewish Soldier – Chaim (Hanush) Afta World War II – the story of a Jewish Soldier – David Hirt World War II – the story of a Jewish soldier – Esther Herlitz World War II – The story of a Jewish soldier – Leon Kopelman Greeting Cards from the Jewish Combatant Collection in the IDFA The Six-Day War Introduction Israel Prepares The "Waiting Period" The National Unity Government Going to war The Israeli Air Force during the war The War Log in the High Command Post Psychological Warfare The Egyptian Front The Jordanian Front The Syrian Front Post War The Price of War The tensions grow The General Staff Deliberations A summary of Rabbi Shlomo Goren's testimony A summary of Yeshayahu Gavish's Uzi Narkis, Central Command Commander David Elazar – commander, Norther Command Chief of Staff, Yitzhak Rabin's Testimony Conscripting troops to the IDF The first disaster in Tyre, Lebanon Operation "Raviv" The Battle of Nitzanim Operation Saucepan 2 The "Night of the Ducks" Night of the Gliders The Intelligence branch papers The Battle of the Beaufort Egypt's President Sadat visit in Israel, November 1977 The Coastal road Massacre From Rudolphina Menzel to Unit "Oketz" – Dogs on Top 1977 Israeli Air Force Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion crash Purim celebrations in the IDF The Maccabiyah Games – a sportive best regards from the fifties Emergency Economy (meshek l'sheat herum or "Melah" for short) From the archive Selected documents Today in the IDF History Recent Catalog search Files טקסט ראשיThe Israel Defense Forces and Defense Establishment Archive, stores more than 10 million files. Most of them were archived by various IDF units, some by the Ministry of Defense entities. Half of those are subject files, the other half are personal files.Subject filesAre collections of incoming and outgoing documents relating to some topic. In 1958 a "Unified Filing Key" was introduced in the IDF's offices, and since then all subject files are dealing each with a specific subject. The filing key covers 23 major subjects expressing the main activities taking place in the military offices.There are of course sub-subjects, however, many units do not use all possibilities offered by the key, and make do with recording their files by the major subjects: supply, logistics, religion, instruction, engineering, air force, education, ordnance, law, navy, personnel, finances, operations, intelligence, IT, administration, regimen and policing, promotion and classification, communication and electronics, medical, transportation, terms of service.It should be noted, that in recent years, following the computerization of the offices, filing does not always follow the proper keys.Subject to P.M 30.0601, each unit transfers its files to the archive with an inventory attached. The Archive inventory includes all inventories received from the units. In most cases, all inventories are stored in the archive's computer system.Not all documentation created in the IDF is archived. Files including documents with short retention times are destroyed in the units, subject to the archive's approval. Other files are destroyed in the archive years later.The file data received from the unit are: unit's name, file's subject, and dates of the earliest and latest documents (inclusive dates), unit's file symbolization, and security classification. The archive adds, in the archiving process, a file archive unique identifier, and physical address in the warehouse.The identifier is composed of three parts from right to left: archiving year, in four digits; annual serial number, file number within a shipment.Occasionally the archive improves a file's data by adding an abstract to facilitate the locating of documents. When a file is examined by the "declassification team" or scanned into the computer, a declassification and scanning statuses are recorded in the computer system.The archive makes little use of the term "Material Bulk:" all files received from a specific unit are considered a unique material bulk, regardless of inclusive dates. Service of subject filesThe database of the Israel Defense Forces and Defense Establishment Archive is amenable to a reasonable level of spotting of most requested documentation.Public service is offered in two modes:The first: independent search of files which are open to the public, via the reading room system. Archive employees guide applicants, assist them, and if needed even locate files.Currently there are 50,000 files opened to public scrutiny.As of now, scrutiny is only possible on the archive's premises, but we intend to establish an online reading room.The second: a data search by the archive employees. Sometimes it is required because the requested materials, or parts of them, are not yet open to public scrutiny.The reading room's computer system makes it possible to locate classified files, and request their use approval. Such requests are first examined in the "Public Scrutiny Unit." The unit's employees may select other files for declassification, or offer alternative files. The classification team examines the files and decides whether to declassify them or not.A file's classification status fixed by the classification team may be opened (all materials open to public scrutiny), mixed (some documents or details are still classified), or classified (the whole file is closed to public scrutiny).