Tikun Olam (תקון עולם Tikkun olam) is a Seattle-based political blog that regularly reports on Israeli security matters.[1] According to The Daily Telegraph, it "has a record of revealing information censored inside Israel".[2] The blog was created in 2003 by Richard Silverstein and covers the Arab–Israeli conflict and Jewish-Muslim relations.
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Tikun Olam broke the gag order against reporting the arrest of prominent Israeli Palestinian political activists Ameer Makhoul and Omar Said by the Shin Bet, who accused them of spying against Israel on behalf of Hezbollah. Neither detainee was permitted to consult an attorney for several weeks, and Makhoul contends that his alleged confession was extracted under torture. Said pled to a reduced charge and went free.[3][4] Makhoul later admitted to spying for Hezbollah, as part of a plea bargain.[5]
In 2010, the blog was reportedly the first to publish the names of the candidates for chief of Mossad and Shin Bet.[6] The blog reported that Yitzhak Ilan was the likely candidate to succeed current Shin Bet director, Yuval Diskin. By law, Israeli publications are only allowed to publish the names of the Shabak and Mossad directors, but no subordinate personnel.[7] In Israeli news reports, Ilan has been referred to as "Y."[8] Shin Bet officials also considered Ilan the likely candidate,[9] but eventually he lost the race to Yoram Cohen. Tikun Olam was the first media outlet to report by name that Tamir Pardo, known in the Israeli media as "T." was a candidate to replace Meir Dagan as Mossad director.[6][10] Subsequently, Pardo was named to the top job.
The blog was reportedly the first to break the Israeli court-imposed gag order that prohibited naming Anat Kamm as a former IDF soldier held for leaking secret military documents to Haaretz reporter Uri Blau.[11]
Intelligence and military affairs correspondent Yossi Melman of Haaretz, wrote: The American blogger Richard Silverstein has transformed himself into the international message board of information which military censorship and Israeli courts forbid publishing. In the past, he reported on the Anat Kamm case while Israeli authorities gagged the mouths of Israel’s media...Silverstein’s blog is important because he exposes the security services and the courts in all their nakedness. They use the instruments of the 20th century to protect secrets which aren’t really secrets in the age of 21st century technology.[8]
Guy Lehrer of Israel's Channel 10 news stated that Silverstein calls himself the Israeli Julian Assange and describes his blog the Wikileaks of Israel. Lehrer then went on to explain the difference between Wikileaks and Silverstein in that Wikileaks brought to light new information that their team had gathered, whereas Silverstein reveals information that is already known to a large group of people but cannot be revealed in Israel due to publication bans.[12]