No transparency on Defense Ministry animal testing since 2010 - committee
The meeting was concluded by discussing the law, the purpose of which was originally to create oversight and minimize the suffering of animals.
By OMRI RONSoldiers in the IDF's Oketz unit hugging a dog during a break, photo taken by Topaz Luk from the IDF spokesperson's unit(photo credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES)
A Knesset committee has found that no data regarding animal testing in both the IDF and the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) has been available to the public since 2009, and has requested that the data be provided.The discussion, made at the request of Joint List MK Ofer Cassif and led by Interior and Environmental Protection Committee chairwoman MK Miki Haimovich, was arranged to discuss the IDF's policy of animal testing. They hoped to discover why no data on testing has been made available, and if everything is being done to minimize the suffering of the animals involved."By law it's required to use alternatives, with animal testing being the last resort. Many countries use simulations; Israel almost never does. That's a violation of the law," Haimovich said. "It would be appropriate if we make a highly classified, consistent, parliamentary committee which will oversee animal testing; without oversight, doing something like that is anarchy."Reportedly, 99% of experiments on animals are being conducted by the IIBR, with the other 1% by the Defense Ministry. While the committee noted that the secretive nature of the Defense Ministry is important to prevent security risks, that does not mean it can be a vacuum from which no information can be released.According to testimonies from soldiers who took part in experiments, animals are actually put to death, and some are severely injured from shock waves during testing of explosives.One member of the committee, lawyer Sagi Agmon from the Association of Ethical Science, said that there have been many experiments conducted on animals, but data on these experiments has not been available for over a decade.Legal adviser to the Defense Ministry Gideon Mertz said that they are following the law as it is written. While he said he could not comment on the IIBR, he did explain that its civilians subsidiaries are also protected by law due to an agreement with the State of Israel.Another point that arose during the committee meeting was regarding the use of simulations to help train paramedics in the IDF instead of using live tissue. However, this was rebuffed with claims that those who make such a request are told that it's better to practice on live tissue, and that they would prefer to have that experience when in a combat situation."We're all heroes, but on the day a paramedic will have to treat someone on the battlefield, do we want failure?" asked Avi Denov, head of the IDF medical corps' medicine wing.Tal Gilboa, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's adviser on animal rights, said that "I support establishing a committee with a high security clearance that will supervise [the tests]. There has been no data since 2010, and that's ridiculous. No one knows how the tests are being supervised."The meeting was concluded by discussing the law, which was originally made to provide oversight and minimize the suffering of animals. The committee came to the conclusion that there is not enough transparency in the ministry's animal testing.Animal rights organizations have raised concerns regarding the bodies responsible for approving the Defense Ministry's animal testing, claiming they are hiding information about the approval process, harming their ability to ensure the protection of animals and the minimal infliction of damage required.Tobias Siegal contributed to this report.
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