Deciphering the Military Rule

1. Why was the Military Rule established in Israel? And when?

When Israel was established, the state initiated a system of military rule to govern over Arab residents of the country. The Military Rule’s objectives were to: a) Ensure control over areas inhabited by Arabs; b) Ensure control over land and villages abandoned during the war; c) Monitor the movements and activities of the Arabs; d) Prevent Arabs from returning to areas occupied during the war.

The Military Rule covered the entire Galilee, the Negev Desert, the cities of Ramle, Lod, Ashkelon and Jaffa, and, after the armistice with Jordan (1949), the triangle region as well. Shortly after the war ended, the Military Government in Jaffa, Ramle and Lod was abolished, leaving about 85% of Arabs living in Israel under Military Rule in three districts: North (initially named Galilee), Centre (the triangle region) and Negev. Sixty percent of the Arabs lived in the Galilee, 20% in the triangle and the rest in the Negev and the mixed Jewish and Arab towns.

Regional Map of the Military Rule in Israel

2. What does it actually mean to live under Military Rule? How is it different from living under civil government?

The legal source for the Military Rule’s powers were the Defense (Emergency) Regulations 1945, which had been used by the British during their mandate over the country and adopted by the Temporary State Council in 1948. Of the many regulations in the Defense (Emergency) Regulations, mainly five were used: Regulation 109, for instance, gives the military commander (usually referred to as the Military Governor) the power to ban an individual from a certain area; Regulation 110 gives the military commander the power to place an individual under police supervision for up to a year; Regulation 111 empowers the Military Governor to place an individual under detention at any place of detention; Regulation 124 gives the Military Governor power to order a curfew over a certain area; Regulation 125 allows the Military Governor to declare an area or a place as a closed zone that may not be entered or exited without a permit in writing from the authorities. In practice, the Military Government imposed unbearably stringent restrictions on movement by Arabs in Israel, and the vast majority of this public was subjected to perpetual night curfews and travel restrictions. Over almost two decades, the Military Government was the main operative arm engaging with the Arab public, and as such, set the course for Jewish-Arab relations.

3. When did the Military Rule end? Why?

From the establishment of the Military Rule until its abolishment in 1966, there was significant political controversy over its necessity. While the supporters of the Military Rule claimed that it is necessary in order to protect Israel’s security from the Arab population that might become a “fifth column”, its opposers claimed that the Military Rule does not contribute anything to the state’s security. Moreover, its opposers believed that the restrictions and limitations that the Military Rule inflicted would only create stronger resistance among the Arab public and more resentfulness towards the State of Israel.

Over the years, the state made changes to the Military Rule regulations, including loosening some restrictions. During the government of Levy Eshkol, who replaced David Ben-Gurion as Prime minister in 1963, a significant number of restrictions were relaxed and the Military Rule became pointless. Following Eshkol’s election, he announced his intention to cancel the Military Rule, which he eventually did in late 1966.

4. Where can I learn and read more about the Military Rule?

Even though the Military Rule existed for almost 20 years and was a major period of Israeli history with significant ramifications, to date, no extensive literature has been written about it in any language. The most detailed work in Hebrew on the subject is Sarah Ozacky-Lazar’s doctoral dissertation at Haifa University in 1996 - The Crystallization of Mutual Relations between Jews and Arabs in the State of Israel, the First Decade 1948-1958. Based on research from her dissertation, in 2002 Ozacky-Lazar published a paper - The Military Government as a Mechanism of Controlling Arab Citizens: The First Decade, 1948–1958, in the journal Ha-Mizrach Ha-Hadash (“The New East”).

A good source in Hebrew about Military Rule era is the book Dayareh Mishneh (Subtenants), (Jerusalem: Keter, 1992) by Uzi Benziman and Atallah Mansour, which includes a number of chapters addressing the Military Rule. In his book Tzel Cahol Lavan (Blue White Shadow) (Pardes, 2007), the historian Yair Boimel wrote about the MAPAI political party (Worker’s Party of the Land of Israel) and its position towards the Arab citizens and Military Rule. Yossi Amitai wrote about another political party, MAPAM (United Worker’s party), which was one of the leading parties opposed to the Military Rule, in his book Fraternity of Nations Under Test (Tel Aviv: Tchrikover Publishing, 1998). In 1966 the Palestinian lawyer Sabri Jiryis published, first in Hebrew, his book The Arabs in Israel (Haifa: Al-Ittihad press, 1966), which remains one of the most original and interesting texts about the Military Rule. Another Palestinian, Fouzi El-Asmar, published a memoir To Be an Arab in Israel (1975), which offers an intimate perspective on the reality Arabs faced in Israel. Although fictional, Baruch Gitlis’s The Ugly Military Governor: The Truth about the Military Government (Jerusalem: Ogdan, 1967) describes the life of an imaginary military governor, giving a fascinating and critical peek on the Military Rule’s apparatus. The work of Adel Manna, Nakba and Survival: The Story of the Palestinians Who Remained in Haifa and the Galilee, 1948-1956 (Van Leer Institute Press and Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 2017) is based on interviews with Palestinian citizens of Israel that lived under the Military Rule, and provides a perspective from the view of the Palestinian “survivor”, a term coined by Manna.

In English, two sources should be mentioned: Ian Lustick’s book Arabs in the Jewish State: Israel's Control of a National Minority (University of Texas Press, 1980), offers an analysis of the controlling apparatuses applied by Israel towards Palestinians during the Military Rule and after. Shira Robinson, in her book Citizen Strangers: Palestinians and the Birth of Israel's Liberal Settler State (Stanford University Press, 2013), offers a theoretical analysis alongside a historical description of the Military Rule era.

5. Where do the documents for cataloging come from?

Most of the documents you will review on this site were received from the Israel State Archive. The Israel State Archive is supposed to hold all archival documentation deposited by state institutions and authoritative bodies that existed prior to the foundation of Israel - the British Mandate and the Ottoman empire. Numerous documents regarding the Military Rule era are held at the IDF and Defense Establishment Archive, however most of these documents are not open for public access.

6. How were documents chosen for the project? Are there more?

The Military Rule was a huge organization and mainly – a bureaucratic one. Thus there is an immense amount of day-to-day documentation of the Military Rule; 18 years of activity lead to enormous amount of documents, much of which has yet to be used for research. The documents included in this project are a small collection that relate to many aspects of the regime; administration, security, tactics, intelligence, and more. Akevot Institute is constantly working to locate additional documents from this era and in the future we will upload more documents for cataloguing on this topic and others.

7. Some of the documents read “secret” or “classified”. What does this mean? Is it legal to make these documents public?

It is totally legal. All of this project’s documents were received from the Israel State Archive and are open for public access. Additionally, we transferred all of the materials to the military censor for their approval.

8. Do you need to know Hebrew or Arabic to participate in the project?

Currently yes. The documents presented for cataloging in the project Deciphering the Military Rule primarily include documents created by official Israeli authorities and are in Hebrew. We also have a project of letters written by Palestinians to the Israeli authorities in Arabic. While the data entry must be in the same language as the documents (Hebrew or Arabic, respectively), you may choose the English option in the language menu to review the project (questions, tutorial and field guide) in English.
Future projects may include documents In English and/or other languages. To receive updates about our future Zooniverse cataloging projects please register to our newsletter here.

9. Is prior knowledge about the history of Israel or the Military Rule required to participate in the project?

Definitely not! No previous knowledge about Israel’s history is required to take part in the project Deciphering the Military Rule. The tasks demand reading the document and identifying specific details in it. The information you will be requested to enter is solely based on the documents. One of the aims of the project is to offer everyone who’s interested hands-on familiarity with documents from the Military Rule, and to learn about the era through them.

10. What should I do if I started cataloging and realized I made a mistake in previous tasks? Should I go back or start over?

No. Even if you were confused, made a mistake, or forgot to enter some details - there is no need to go back or start over. The cataloguing system is set up so each document is catalogued by multiple contributors. Therefore, even if you think you made a mistake somewhere along the way, don’t worry, someone else will provide the right answer.

11. I saw a notice on a document that says “Finished” or “Already Seen”. What does it mean?

Sometimes a document will have a red banner on the top corner with a notice. If the banner displays “Finished”, it means that this document has been catalogued enough times by multiple contributors and we confidently have enough answers. In this case, refresh your page and you will receive a new document.
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