ODED GOLAN RESPONDS, on the Bible and Interpretation website, to the Uvda program and to the many charges made against him in the media:

Television Broadcast Was No More Than �Rumor�

��� For many months, individuals related to the IAA (The Israel Antiquities Authority) have leaked false information to the media and press on five continents and to thousands of websites on the Internet.

By Oded Golan
March 2004

��� At this stage, I wish only to mention two important facts which may assist the reader in analyzing the recent �media circus�:


1. The number of times that I have sold or mediated in a sale of antiquities in my entire life is smaller than the number of fingers on my hands, and this in itself is much smaller than the number of sales or exchanges performed by any serious antiquities collector I know in the world.

2. In all my 42 years of collecting antiquities, I have never sold a single item to any individual or institution outside Israel (I reiterate � not even a single item in the entire 42-year period was sold by me outside Israel!).


��� For many months, individuals related to the IAA (The Israel Antiquities Authority) have leaked false information to the media and press on five continents and to thousands of websites on the Internet.

[...]

��� Without going into the legal issues in depth, the violation of civil rights and privacy, personal property, libel, direct damage to personal property, publication of information without rights (including scientific information), were all blatantly clear to anyone viewing the program. Equally obvious was the absolutely improper conduct. On one hand, as the object of investigation, I am prevented from responding freely to the media and restrictions of discussing information at this stage apply to me. On the other hand, IAA and police officials repeatedly stated to the courts that the information concerning the investigation is classified, yet the Israel Police had no trouble in approaching the media and providing the information to the public during the legal proceedings.

[...]

As far as I know, this is the first public statement of any significant length which Golan has made, so it's worth reading in full.