The Agranat Commission was a National Commission of Inquiry set up to investigate failings in the Israel Defense Forces in the prelude to the Yom Kippur War, when Israel was found unprepared for the Egyptian attack against the Bar Lev Line and a simultaneous attack by Syria in the Golan — the first phase in a war in which 2,812 Israeli soldiers were killed.

The Commission[link]

The commission was an official National Commission of Inquiry appointed by the Israeli government to investigate the circumstances leading to the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War. The Committee was headed by Shimon Agranat, Chief Justice of Israel's Supreme Court. Its other members were Justice Moshe Landau, State Comptroller Yitzchak Nebenzahl, and former Chiefs of Staff Yigael Yadin and Chaim Laskov. The Committee sat for 140 sessions, during which they listened to the testimony of 58 witnesses.^[1] It was established on 21 November 1973 with a remit to investigate:

1. The intelligence information for the days preceding the Yom Kippur War on the enemy's moves and intentions to launch the war, the evaluation of this information, and the decisions taken by the responsible military and civil authorities in response thereto.
2. The general deployment of the IDF in case of war, its state of readiness during the days preceding the Yom Kippur War, and its operations up to the containment of the enemy.^[2]

It did not examine the later stages of the war when the IDF went on the offensive.

On 31 December 1973 elections which had been delayed by the war took place. Likud a new political party won 39 seats in the Knesset. Newly elected Member of Knesset and one of the Likud founders, Reserve General Arik Sharon gave a newspaper interview in which he was quoted as saying that he would disobey orders that he felt were against the interests of the State or his subordinates. This caused so much public concern that Sharon was asked to appear before the Commission^[3] which accepted his testimony that the quote was in the context of a specific event which occurred under very exceptional circumstances.^[4]

Findings[link]

The commission's report was published in three parts. The interim report, 1 April 1974, called for the dismissal of a number of senior officers in the IDF and caused such controversy that Prime Minister Golda Meir was forced to resign. The second part was published 10 July 1974 and contained the reasons for the conclusions of the first report. The final part of the report was published on 30 January 1975.^[5] One consequence of the Commission's investigation was the "Basic Law: The Army (1975)" clarifying the IDF's legal status.

The Interim Report[link]

Published on 1 April 1974 the Interim Report caused a sensation. Its headline recommendation was the dismissal of four senior officers in Military Intelligence. The Chief of Military Intelligence Major General Eliyahu Zeira, his deputy Brigadier David (Aryeh) Shalev, the head of the Egyptian Department Lt Colonel Yona Benman, and the chief intelligence officer in the Southern Command Lt Colonel David Gadila.^[6] Its was critical of a what it called the "concept" in Military Intelligence thinking. This was based on the assumption that Egypt would only attack if it had the air-power to take on the Israeli Air Force. It was also thought that Syria would only attack if Egypt did. In the absence of any upgrading of Egypt's air force it was concluded there was no threat of imminent war.^[7][8] This led to complacency and evidence being ignored. For example on 1 October and again on 3 October 1973, Lieutenant Benjamin Siman Yov, order of battle intelligence officer for the Southern Command gave his superior Lt Colonel Gadalia documents indicating Egypt's war preparations.^[9] In its examination of the senior echelons of the IDF the commission also concluded that GOC Southern Command Shmuel Gonen should be dismissed. After his departure Gonen argued that he had only been in the post for a few months and that the command had been neglected by his predecessor Arik Sharon.^[10] The Commission also found Chief of Staff Dado Elazar responsible. But it refused to give an opinion on the responsibility of the Minister of Defence Moshe Dayan arguing that this was beyond its remit.
This caused public uproar and unhappiness in the army. In Abba Eban's words "The conclusions ... did not seem to accord with the narrative"^[11] Yitzhak Rabin walked out of the cabinet with Elazar.^[12] Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets.^[13] Nine days after the publication of the Interim Report Golda Meir announced the resignation of her government.
After his dismissal Elazar maintained that had he been given more of the information he would have mobilized the IDF sooner. But this only confirmed the Commissions criticisms about the reliance on a single avenue for intelligence analysis.^[14][15] Elazar died two years later aged 48.^[16]

The Final Report[link]

The final part of the Report was published on 30 January 1975. The completed Report was 1,500 pages long, with 746 pages devoted to the fighting in the south and 311 to the north. Forty two pages were made public, the remainder being kept secret.^[17][18] Besides the IDF's failures it looked at the issues around civilian and political control of the army and found a "lack of clear definitions...". Surprisingly they could not find a clear statement of civilian control over the military. They argued that Basic Law: The Cabinet (1968) implied authority when it stated that the Cabinet has authority over all areas not covered by other legislation. Later critics argued that the Cabinet's authority stemmed from the IDF Order (1948) which authorised the Minister of Defence to set up the army. Further questions arouse over hundreds of orders issued by Chiefs of Staff since 1948 without authorisation from the Minister of Defence. These discoveries led to the swift enactment of Basis Law: The Army (1975). Its main clause stated:

• The Army is subject to the authority of the Cabinet.
• The Minister responsible is the Minister of Defence.
• The supreme commander of the Army is the Chief of Staff.
• The Chief of Staff is subject to the authority of Cabinet and subordinate to the Minister of Defence.

The new law still left some issues unresolved, such as who appoints a Chief of Staff? Is the Chief of Staff the most senior officer in the army?

In practice the controversy about the report's absence of criticism of Moshe Dayan led to a strengthening of the Chief of Staff's position since he could argue that if the Chief of Staff had sole responsibility it must the Chief of Staff's decision. The Chief of Staff was now a regular attender of Cabinet Meetings.^[19]

The Commission was critical of the standard of everyday discipline in the IDF: "Discipline is indivisible. For example, a soldier who becomes accustomed in time of peace not to observe the minor rules, such as in matters of personal appearance, without being alerted to this failure by his superior officer, will in the end be negligent in carrying out operational orders."^[20]

As a response to the Commissions criticism of using Military Intelligence as the sole route for analysis of information the Foreign Ministry established a Research and Planning Department.^[21] Despite this, five years later the 29th Comptrollers Report into the conduct of the IDF during Operation Litani which left 21 IDF soldiers dead, concluded that "conditions same as 1973". The Report's author was Yitzhak Nebenzahl, member of the Agranat Commission.^[22]

The full text of the report, except for 48 pages, was made public 1 January 1995.^[23]

Critique of the report[link]

The findings of the Agranat Commission have been the focus of sharp debate among the Israeli public up until today. Particular criticism relates to its exoneration of the country's political leadership, especially Defense Minister Dayan. According to the Report: "As long as he accepts the opinions of his advisers, he does not bear any personal responsibility."

Further criticism responds to the Commission's recommendations, stemming from the failure of military intelligence to assess the Arab states' intent, that the IDF should not consider the intentions of hostile states, but rather their capacity for war. Thirty years later, Giora Eiland, Head of the National Security Council, wrote: "Both the proscription against considering intent and the concentration on the prevention of threats—two central messages of the Agranat Commission [Report]—frustrated and delayed the rebuilding and preparedness of the IDF for years."

References[link]

Further reading[link]

1. The Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle East by Abraham Rabinovich. ISBN 0-8052-4176-0

External links[link]

• Agranat Commission lexicon entry Knesset website (English)

David Sencer

David Judson Sencer (November 10, 1924 – May 2, 2011) was an American public health official who orchestrated the 1976 immunization program against swine flu. Between 1966 and 1977, he was the longest serving director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). From 1981 to 1985, he was Health Commissioner of New York City.^[1]

Personal life and education[link]

Sencer was born on November 10, 1924, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His father, who specialized in furniture, died in Sencer's early life, so his mother, Helen Furness, raised him. After receiving scholarships to Cranbrook School and Wesleyan University, he left Wesleyan before graduating to join the Navy. Subsequently, the Navy "sent him to medical school at the University of Mississippi. He completed his medical degree at the University of Michigan [(U-M)]."^[1] During his stint at U-M, tuberculosis consigned him to the hospital for a year and a half.^[1] This incident motivated him to study public health.^[2]

Sencer later attained a Master's degree in public health at Harvard University.^[1] In 2009, he was awarded an honorary B.A. degree from Wesleyan.^[3]

In 1951, Sencer married Jane Blood Sencer, with whom he had three children—Susan, a pediatric oncologist; Ann, an oncology nurse practitioner; and Stephen, general counsel for Emory University.^[1]

Public health career[link]

Sencer points to a depiction of Triatomine sp., which transmits Chagas disease.

In 1955, Sencer joined the US Public Health Service.^[4] In 1960, Sencer became the assistant director of the CDC, and in 1966, the director. In this capacity he played a major role in 1974 in establishing Emory University's public health department, which later became the Rollins School of Public Health.^[1]

During Sencer's administration, the CDC grew considerably, addressing for the first time malaria, nutrition, tobacco control, as well as family planning, health education, and occupational safety and health.^[4][1] Additionally, Sencer prepared instructions for the quarantine of astronauts returning from the moon, which was suspected to harbor extraterrestrial pathogens.^[4]

The agency's most successful undertaking was a smallpox-prevention project in Central Africa and later in the rest of the world.^[1] This was among the CDC's first significant dealings with international public health, which the CDC presently directs.^[2] At the forefront of the effort was William H. Foege, who said: "I never asked [Sencer] for anything that he didn't deliver...He said you couldn’t protect U.S. citizens from smallpox without getting rid of it in the world, and that was a new approach. People in the field got all the praise, but he was the unsung hero. He just kept providing what we needed."^[1]

After the swine flu outbreak of 1976, in which over 200 recruits in Fort Dix, New Jersey were infected, Sencer resolved that all US citizens should be immunized. Precipitated both by his apprehensions of a recurrence of the 1918–1919 flu plague and by President Gerald Ford's incitement, the decision was later criticized as "rash and wasteful". It led the United States Public Health Service to request up to 200 million doses of vaccine. However, the anticipated pandemic did not emerge, and "rising percentages" of the 45 million vaccinated were afflicted with Guillain–Barré syndrome, which provoked over 24 deaths. Sencer was both condemned and supported. Having worked with Sencer at CDC, the dean of Emory's Rollins School, James W. Curran, explained, "Dave Sencer made a hard choice, and he did it for the right reason — to protect the American public... He was trying to protect Americans had there been [a swine flu epidemic], and absent one, there was bound to be criticism."^[1] In 2006, Sencer wrote a report on the swine flu program: "When lives are at stake, it is better to err on the side of overreaction than underreaction... In 1976, the federal government wisely opted to put protection of the public first".^[2][5]

That year, Legionnaires' disease, then unidentified, killed 29 attendees of a Philadelphia American Legion conference. Sencer sent 20 epidemiologists there to investigate, and months later they attributed the disease to a type of bacteria in the air-conditioning system in the hotel where the conference was held.^[1] When Jimmy Carter's presidency began, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Joseph A. Califano, Jr. dismissed Sencer as "part of the normal turnover of staff when administrations change".^[4]

After a short stint in the private sector, Sencer, in 1982, during the development of the AIDS epidemic in New York City, rejoined the public sector as the health commissioner of the city,^{[note 1]} whose mayor was Edward I. Koch. Although some appreciated his arrangement of weekly information-swapping sessions between doctors and public health officials, others, particularly those in the gay community, reprehended him for "dragging his feet". AIDS activist Larry Kramer contended, "He and his reign accounted for one of the most disastrous experiences of public health anywhere in the world... What did he do? He didn't do anything. He had a mayor who said, 'I don't want to know,' and Sencer fell into line." James Colgrove, however, acknowledged Sencer's "amending the city's codes so that AIDS cases were treated confidentially, defending the right of children with AIDS to attend public schools, and being an early advocate for a city-sponsored needle-exchange program". Colgrove agreed with critics that Sencer was a poor public educator. He neglected to disseminate information regarding sexual risk reduction for gay and bisexual men, and initially did not publicize that "casual contact" did not spread AIDS.^[1] Sencer also supported "free clean needles for addicts and fought to keep gay bathhouses open, believing they were an ideal place to teach safe sex".^[2]

Sencer (second from left) in 2008

Current CDC director Thomas Frieden called Sencer "a public health giant... And until the end he continued to be a thoughtful and vibrant member of the public health community. At the height of the H1N1 pandemic of 2009, he was here full time, and I said, 'Can I pay you?' He said, 'No, this is a labor of love.'"^[1]

Death[link]

Sencer died from pneumonia^[2] on May 2, 2011, at the age of 86, in his hometown Atlanta, Georgia.

References and notes[link]

References

Notes

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: David Sencer

• Obituary from The Daily Telegraph

Moshe Landau
Supreme Court of Israel judge
In office 1953–1982
President of the Supreme Court of Israel
In office 1980–1982
Preceded by	Yoel Zussman
Succeeded by	Yitzhak Kahan
Personal details
Born	(1912-04-29)29 April 1912 Danzig, Germany
Died	1 May 2011(2011-05-01) (aged 99) Jerusalem, Israel

Moshe Landau (Hebrew: משה לנדוי‎, 29 April 1912 – 1 May 2011)^[1] was an Israeli jurist. He was the fifth President of the Supreme Court of Israel.

Biography[link]

Landau was born in Danzig, Germany (modern Gdańsk, Poland) to Dr. Isaac Landau and Betty née Eisenstädt.^[2] His father was a leading member of the Jewish Community of Danzig^[3] In 1930 he finished high school in the Free City of Danzig and in 1933 he graduated from the University of London School of Law. That year, he immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine. In 1937 he was admitted to the Bar of Palestine. In 1940 he was made judge in the Magistrate's Court of Haifa and was appointed to the District Court in 1948.^[4]

Judicial career[link]

• 1953: Appointed a Supreme Court judge.
• 1957: Sat on the court-martial – Criminal Court of Appeals, discussing the problem of "Lawful Orders" in the case of the killing of 30 Arabs in the village Kafr Qasim.
• 1961: Presided over the Eichmann Trial.
• 1962: Set a precedent regarding the freedom of information by overruling a censor decision.
• 1965: As Chairman of the Israeli Central Elections Committee he was the first to disqualify a "subversive" list from running for the Knesset.^[4]
• 1974: Member of the Agranat Commission.
• 1976: Deputy President of the Supreme Court.
• 1980: President of Supreme Court until 1982.
• 1987: Headed the Landau Commission to investigate the Shin Bet's procedures. The commission found frequent cases of perjury in court and violations of the law. The commission acknowledged that "moderate physical pressure" might sometimes be necessary as an interrogation tool.^[5] Israeli human rights groups maintained that the practices authorized by the commission amounted to torture.^[6] The commission's report was nullified in 1999 by a Supreme Court ruling.^[5]

Other positions held[link]

Member of the International Court of Justice.^[4] Chairman of the World Zionist Congress tribunal. Chairman of the advisory Commissions on reforming the Israeli Land Law, criminal procedure and administrative tribunals. Chairman of the Commission for recognition of righteous among the nations in Yad Vashem. From 1956 to 1962 and from 1965 to 1966 he served as Chairman of the board of directors of the Technion.

Awards and honours[link]

• In 1980, Landau received an honorary doctorate from the Technion.
• In 1991, he was awarded the Israel Prize for law.^[7]
• In 1993, he was made an honorary chairman of the Technion's board of directors.
• In 1997, he received an honorary doctorate from the Hebrew Union College.^[4]

References[link]

See also[link]

• List of Israel Prize recipients

v t e Presidents of the Supreme Court of Israel Smoira (1948–54) · Olshan (1954–65) · Agranat (1965–76) · Zussman (1976–80) · Landau (1980–82) · Kahan (1982–83) · Shamgar (1983–95) · Barak (1995–2006) · Beinisch (2006–2012) · Grunis (2012–present)