| The goal of this study is to provide an analysis of the information policy of Israel, and to examine whether existing legislation pertaining to information law is consistent with a comprehensive national information policy. Since no comprehensive studies have ever been done on Israel's information policy, this study wishes to fill a gap and provide a detailed account of the development of the field in Israel. The study provides a framework for policy makers, decision makers, and other stakeholders concerned with information policy, of how to best establish an effective approach for the planning of a national information policy. This framework is provided by utilizing democratic models as a sense making tool for effective information policy planning. The two democratic models this study is concerned with are parliamentarism and pluralism. The study will examine the degree of the ability of these models to reflect the changes over the past fifty years of the information policy practices of Israel.; The information policy areas examined have been adapted from the framework provided by Overman and Cahill, and will include access and freedom, privacy, openness, secrecy and security, and ownership.; The study found that: Until recently, policy makers have been indifferent to the importance of a comprehensive national information policy; Information policy, as well as the need for a comprehensive information policy plan, has gained importance in Israel with time, especially in the 1990s; In many cases, the impact of court rulings outweigh the impact of legislation in de facto information policy formulation; The situation regarding Israel's constitution impacts both the status and nature of information policy; Israel suffers from a deficit of direct information from the government; In the 1990s, the Israeli government's information practices have indicated a general shift from restrictive to distributive policies; The threat to information has shifted from concerns associated with security and censorship to concerns associated with social norms; There is a great gap between information policy intent and its actual implementation; Information professionals in Israel, both within academia and those working in the public sector, have not shown enough involvement in the policy formation process. |
