Israel’s Ministry of Justice issued a memorandum saying that the Freedom of Information Law will be temporarily suspended. The Freedom of Information Law mandates Israeli government agencies to reply to information requests within 2 months. They can delay their response by additional three months only if they provide a reason. If the response is delayed for beyond this, then the organization that submitted the request can sue the government agency that failed to provide that response. However, following a recent memorandum by Ministry of Justice, for any official request for information made after October 7th, a response may not arrive within the timeframe defined by the Freedom of Information Law. Director of the Freedom of Information Movement, Racheli Adri-Hulta, called this memorandum exceptional and extreme. She argued that the economy and the government agencies were in a similar situation during Covid situation, but that Freedom of Information Law was fully functional. She added it is precisely now that IDF is mobilizing even reserve forces, that the public needs the transparency of information the most. Sources: https://www.meida.org.il/15057