• The State Documents Department  and the Commemoration Department publish two compilations of documents: the "Documents on the Foreign Policy of Israel" series, and the series commemorating Israel's late presidents and prime ministers  which contains a selection of documents relating to Israel's late presidents and prime ministers, accompanied by historical prefaces and numerous photographs. The documents published in these two series have been declassified  in accordance with the Archives Law  according to the usual process at the Israel State Archives.

The department is an integral part of the work of the Archives and aims to bring to the attention of the public a part – albeit a small one – of the rich collection of documents stored in the different departments of the Archives, in the Audio-Visual Department and in the Oral Documentation Unit.

• The commemorative series is published according to the Presidents and Prime Ministers of Israel Commemoration Law (1986). According to this law, the Israel State Archives is required to collect documentary material on Israel's presidents and prime ministers and "to publish a selection of the speeches, lectures and written works" of each deceased president and prime minister. The volumes (in Hebrew only) are published in association with the Presidents and Prime Ministers Memorial Council in the Prime Minister's Office.

• Every deceased president and prime minister is commemorated in this series by a volume of selected documents produced during his or her lifetime and term of office. The documents are chosen after a painstaking process of sorting through thousands of documents, with the aim of highlighting the political and social activity of these figures, their fields of interest and views on political, social and cultural matters, as well as expressing aspects of their personal life. The documents are accompanied by historical explanations and background and photographs reflecting the person's life and times. The series addresses both the public at large and the academic community, and serves as a basis for research for all those interested in the annals of the Zionist movement, the State of Israel and its leaders.

• Each volume encompasses the entire person's lifespan, except for the volumes on David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Rabin, where the scope of the book was limited.

• The Commemoration Department does its best to publish the volumes in chronological order, according to the dates of demise of the people in question.

• Each volume is edited by one of a team of expert editors with extensive historical knowledge, who have at their disposal archival material, including some that has not yet been declassified. To facilitate their work, the editors also have access to public archives in Israel and abroad, private archives, and the Audio-Visual department. The department's editors also deal with oral documentation, i.e. interviews with family members and other people who had significant ties with Israel's presidents and prime ministers. Some of the interviews were videotaped and all were recorded and printed. The interviews are stored in the Israel State Archives and are available to the public within the limitations of declassification as stipulated by the Archives Law.