Hi all,
I am very proud to announce that Wikimedia Israel just won one of its main struggles. The Israeli government has announced[1] that all imaged in which the state is the copyrights holder and that were uploaded to the government's websites can be freely used with the following restrictions:
1. The image will be attributed to the state of Israel (or the relevant office)
2. The user cannot change the license (Share-alike)
3. No derivative work.
4. Each office will create a policy about commercial use (i.e., commercial use is allowed, unless otherwise specified).

Wikimedia Israel has pushed for this change since 2010, when MK Meir Sheetrit proposed an amendment for the Israeli copyright act. The chapter pushed for the acceptance of this amendment by the Knesset (the Israeli parliament). During this time, we were able to make a complete shift in the paradigms employed by the government and government officials. From being strong opposers to the bill, they become adopters of the changes, thus making the bill itself, redundant.

Now, a new struggle begins - Wikimedia Israel will work to remove the ND clause from the decision, and will make sure that all government offices publish their policy as required. Nonetheless, this is still a huge achievement, the government has accepted the importance of free culture in modern world.

On a personal note, as the leader of this project, I wish to send my many thanks to all of those who made this miracle happen. A special thanks is due to the great people of the Israeli Internet society, the (just as great) people of Creative commons Israel, Adv. Jonathan Klinger, Mathias Schindler, the awsome volunteers of Wikimedia Israel and the editors of Hebrew Wikipedia. If there's anyone I forgot by name - my apologies, I'm still terribly excited of these news.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them here or send me a private email,
Tomer Ashur
Chairman
Wikimedia Israel

[1] http://www.pmo.gov.il/Secretary/GovDecisions/2012/Pages/des5268.aspx