Anat Kamm-Uri Blau affair
Encyclopedia
The Anat Kamm-Uri Blau affair refers to a leak of thousands of classified Israel Defense Forces
(IDF) documents by the former Israeli soldier Anat Kamm.
During her military service as an assistant in the Central Command bureau Kamm secretly copied thousands of classified documents, including many confidential documents. After she finished her military service Kamm copied the documents to a CD and leaked it to the Israeli Haaretz
journalist Uri Blau
. On these acts Kamm was later on convicted of espionage and providing confidential information without authorization.
Information from the leak suggested that the military had defied a court ruling against assassinating wanted militants in the West Bank
who could potentially be arrested safely.
Facts in this the case were subjected to an Israeli gag order
. Given that Kamm worked as a gossip journalist dealing with media affairs, the case became well known to journalists, who started reporting on it using indirect descriptions. The gag order was ultimately circumvented and broken from abroad, notably through U.S.-based blogsite Tikun Olam.
According to the indictment, Kamm illegally copied over 2,000 classified documents during her military service at the IDF. Israeli law enforcement sources said the documents include "operational military information, security and situation assessments, meetings' minutes and protocols, highly sensitive intelligence information, orders of deployment and battle, drill briefings, and warfare doctrines for the West Bank". Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin
said that the case "had the potential to cause grave damage to state security", and defined the documents as "the kind that any intelligence agency would be delighted to get its hands on".
i journalist
.
Kamm was born in 1987 in Jerusalem, and in her youth studied at the Hebrew University Secondary School. In her youth, she also began writing for journalism in a local newspaper called Jerusalem (which is now called Yediot Jerusalem), while she also wrote for the youth channel of the Israeli website Walla!.
In 2005, Kamm started her military service in the Israeli Defence Forces. In July 2005, she was assigned to work as a clerk in the office of the commander of the Israeli Central Command
. In January 2006, she began her training at an officer's course, but was eliminated eventually and afterwards was assigned to work as an assistant in the office of the commander of Israeli Central Command, Major General
Yair Naveh
.
After she finished her military service, she began to study for a Bachelor’s degree in History
and Philosophy
at the Tel Aviv University
. In August 2007, she began working as a reporter for Walla!, an internet news portal owned, until March 2010, by the Bezeq
and Haaretz
groups. She was employed there until March 10, 2010, when she announced a leave of absence
.
i writer and journalist
and currently an investigative reporter for the Haaretz
newspaper, specializing in military affairs.
limiting the circumstances in which such a tactic could be used.
The Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General
Gabi Ashkenazi
was angered by the leak of highly classified documents, and ordered an investigation about its source.
Following a petition for investigation by two Israeli leading human rights attorneys, the Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz responded in a letter challenging the allegations made by Blau:
According to documents released by The Tel Aviv
District Court
, Kamm said during her interrogation: "There were some aspects of the IDF's operational procedures in the West Bank
that I felt should be public knowledge... When I was burning the CDs I kept thinking that history tends to forgive people who expose war crimes." The Israeli police secured a gag order prohibiting Israeli media from reporting on Kamm's arrest, and the reasons for it. The charges against Kamm do not relate to her journalistic activities as a media correspondent, but rather to being a journalistic source.
, which collaborated with Israeli bloggers and journalists to bring the story into the public consciousness.
After pressure from articles in the foreign media and from the Israeli press itself which resented its muzzling, the gag order was removed on April 8 and an indictment published which accused Kamm of espionage and damaging the security of the state. She faced a possible penalty of life in prison. Reaction among some in the public has been especially harsh, with some calling her a spy and traitor. Kamm's trial was scheduled to begin in May 2010, unless her attorneys arrived at a plea bargain with the prosecution.
Though the prosecution originally sought the gag order, in this case Kamm and her attorneys felt it was in her interest to honor it as well. She has exerted great pressure on her supporters not to publicize her arrest or the charges against her. She asked the Hebrew Wikipedia
to remove the article about her (although a deletion vote was opened before her request was made), which raised controversy both within the Hebrew Wikipedia community and among free speech and free press advocates within Israel and abroad.
The case raised profound questions about the balance between national security and press scrutiny. Advocates for human rights and democracy both within Israel and outside are closely monitoring the case. The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders
issued a statement saying that "Defence of national security is a legitimate objective but censorship must not be used to prevent the Israel Defence Forces from being held responsible if they broke the law."
Although a gag order
was initially issued in late January 2010 while Kamm was in house arrest
, the Israeli journalist Yitzhak Tessler of NRG Ma'ariv was the first to refer to the affair in his column where he called journalists to find ways to make the publish the details surrounding the affair. Beside several Israeli blogs, that soon deleted the information they published about the affair (some deleted the information due to the gag order and some due to a request from Kamm herself) and The Seventh Eye
, an Israeli site that discusses the investigation and criticism of the Israeli media, which dropped hints about the affair, no Israeli media outlet published any details about Kamm's arrest.
Outside of Israel, the first to published details of affair (in mid-March 2010) was Richard Silverstein, a Jewish-American blogger. The first full publication (by an established media source) appeared at the end of March 2010 in the Jewish news agency "Jewish Telegraphic Agency
" (JTA) from the United States. In the following days the affair was published in many newspapers and news agencies. After the details of the affair were published in various media outlets worldwide, the Israeli media began to carefully hint about the affair. The Haaretz
newspaper and Channel 10
filed a petition to the District Court in Tel Aviv against the gag order
which was eventually lifted on April 8.
With the removal of the gag order an extensive discussion was held in the Israeli media about Kamm's actions. The dominant approach in the media was that Kamm's actions risked lives without a real justification. Various parties have supported Kamm's actions, including "Haaretz
". Richard Silverstein classified Kamm on the same level of Julian Assange
and Bradley Manning, as a world-class whistleblower.
.
On 6 February 2011 Kamm was convicted in the Tel Aviv
District Court after pleading guilty in a plea bargain
to leaking more than 2,000 secret military documents to the Israeli Haaretz
newspaper. The plea bargain contained that Kamm would not be charged with damaging national security, which carried a life sentence if convicted. Instead, she was charged with leaking classified materials, which carries a 15 year maximum sentence. The prosecution was expected to ask for a nine year sentence.
On 30 October 2011, Kamm was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison and 18 months probation. The panel of judges ruled that the two years Kamm had spent under house arrest would not be deducted from her sentence.
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
(IDF) documents by the former Israeli soldier Anat Kamm.
During her military service as an assistant in the Central Command bureau Kamm secretly copied thousands of classified documents, including many confidential documents. After she finished her military service Kamm copied the documents to a CD and leaked it to the Israeli Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
journalist Uri Blau
Uri Blau
Uri Blau is an Israeli journalist and currently an investigative reporter for the Haaretz newspaper, specializing in military affairs and exposing corruption.- Career :...
. On these acts Kamm was later on convicted of espionage and providing confidential information without authorization.
Information from the leak suggested that the military had defied a court ruling against assassinating wanted militants in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
who could potentially be arrested safely.
Facts in this the case were subjected to an Israeli gag order
Gag order
A gag order is an order, sometimes a legal order by a court or government, other times a private order by an employer or other institution, restricting information or comment from being made public.Gag orders are often used against participants involved in a lawsuit or criminal trial...
. Given that Kamm worked as a gossip journalist dealing with media affairs, the case became well known to journalists, who started reporting on it using indirect descriptions. The gag order was ultimately circumvented and broken from abroad, notably through U.S.-based blogsite Tikun Olam.
According to the indictment, Kamm illegally copied over 2,000 classified documents during her military service at the IDF. Israeli law enforcement sources said the documents include "operational military information, security and situation assessments, meetings' minutes and protocols, highly sensitive intelligence information, orders of deployment and battle, drill briefings, and warfare doctrines for the West Bank". Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin
Yuval Diskin
Yuval Diskin was the 12th Director of Shabak .In the Israel Defense Forces, Diskin served as deputy company commander of Sayeret Shaked . In 1978, he was recruited to the Shabak and served as area coordinator for the Nablus district...
said that the case "had the potential to cause grave damage to state security", and defined the documents as "the kind that any intelligence agency would be delighted to get its hands on".
Anat Kamm
Anat Kamm or Anat Kam, is currently an IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
.
Kamm was born in 1987 in Jerusalem, and in her youth studied at the Hebrew University Secondary School. In her youth, she also began writing for journalism in a local newspaper called Jerusalem (which is now called Yediot Jerusalem), while she also wrote for the youth channel of the Israeli website Walla!.
In 2005, Kamm started her military service in the Israeli Defence Forces. In July 2005, she was assigned to work as a clerk in the office of the commander of the Israeli Central Command
Israeli Central Command
The Israeli Central Command , often abbreviated to Pakmaz , is a regional command of the Israel Defense Forces. It is responsible for the units and brigades located in the West Bank , Jerusalem, the Sharon, Gush Dan, and the Shephelah.The commander of the central command is the one who is...
. In January 2006, she began her training at an officer's course, but was eliminated eventually and afterwards was assigned to work as an assistant in the office of the commander of Israeli Central Command, Major General
Israel Defense Forces ranks
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces have a unique rank structure. Because the IDF is an integrated force, ranks are the same in all services The ranks are derived from those of the paramilitary Haganah developed in the Mandate period to protect the Yishuv...
Yair Naveh
Yair Naveh
Yair Naveh is a Major General in the Israel Defense Forces and is the current Deputy Chief of the General Staff. In 1975, he was drafted into the IDF where he served in all positions in the Golani Infantry Brigade from Company Commander to Brigade Commander...
.
After she finished her military service, she began to study for a Bachelor’s degree in History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at the Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...
. In August 2007, she began working as a reporter for Walla!, an internet news portal owned, until March 2010, by the Bezeq
Bezeq
Bezeq, the Israeli company for communications, is a telecommunications provider in Israel.Until the mid-first decade of the 21st century when it was owned by the Israeli government, Bezeq had a monopoly on landline telephony and Internet access infrastructure...
and Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
groups. She was employed there until March 10, 2010, when she announced a leave of absence
Leave of absence
Leave of absence is a term used to describe a period of time that one is to be away from his/her primary job, while maintaining the status of employee...
.
Uri Blau
Uri Blau is an IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i writer and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and currently an investigative reporter for the Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
newspaper, specializing in military affairs.
Details of the leak
In 2008, Blau published a report based on these documents which said that the IDF senior command planned and executed targeted killings of three people, in violation of an earlier 2006 ruling of the Israeli Supreme CourtSupreme Court of Israel
The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...
limiting the circumstances in which such a tactic could be used.
-
- “This is an arrest operation,” the document said, attributing the quote to Naveh. “But in case [the soldiers] identify one of the senior leaders of the Islamic Jihad, Walid Obeid, Ziad Malaisha, Adham Yunis, they have permission to open fire in accordance with their appraisal of the situation during the operation.”
The Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General
Israel Defense Forces ranks
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces have a unique rank structure. Because the IDF is an integrated force, ranks are the same in all services The ranks are derived from those of the paramilitary Haganah developed in the Mandate period to protect the Yishuv...
Gabi Ashkenazi
Gabi Ashkenazi
Gavriel "Gabi" Ashkenazi , was the Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defence Forces from 2007 to 2011.- Background and early life :...
was angered by the leak of highly classified documents, and ordered an investigation about its source.
Following a petition for investigation by two Israeli leading human rights attorneys, the Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz responded in a letter challenging the allegations made by Blau:
-
- Regarding the killing of Malaisha, Mazuz wrote, “The IDF operation met all the conditions laid down in the [Supreme Court targeted killing ruling]. The attack took place after the possibility of arresting the fugitives was ruled out as being impossible to achieve under the circumstances and after it was made clear to the soldiers that arrest was the first preference.
-
- Mazuz added that “the legal aspects of the operation were examined at each one of the planning stages and there is no basis to the charge that the IDF ‘ignored’ the High Court’s instructions... On the contrary, the operational officers in the general staff, who had close legal consultation, were aware of the High Court instructions and stressed and carried them out in all stages of the planning and the approval of the operation.”
According to documents released by The Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
District Court
District court
District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations. These include:-Australia:District Court is the name given to the intermediate court in most Australian States. They hear indictable criminal offences excluding treason, murder and, in some States, manslaughter...
, Kamm said during her interrogation: "There were some aspects of the IDF's operational procedures in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
that I felt should be public knowledge... When I was burning the CDs I kept thinking that history tends to forgive people who expose war crimes." The Israeli police secured a gag order prohibiting Israeli media from reporting on Kamm's arrest, and the reasons for it. The charges against Kamm do not relate to her journalistic activities as a media correspondent, but rather to being a journalistic source.
Publication of the affair
Despite the fact that numerous foreign media outlets, as well as local blogs, had reported on the case and her identity, there was a gag order within the mainstream media. No printed newspaper had published her name, though many have published reports criticizing the authorities for imposing the gag and preventing them from telling their readers about the major story. The first overseas reporting on the case came in the Tikun Olam blogTikun Olam (blog)
Tikun Olam is a Seattle-based political blog, which regularly reports on Israeli security matters, and is known to have good sources in Israel's military community...
, which collaborated with Israeli bloggers and journalists to bring the story into the public consciousness.
After pressure from articles in the foreign media and from the Israeli press itself which resented its muzzling, the gag order was removed on April 8 and an indictment published which accused Kamm of espionage and damaging the security of the state. She faced a possible penalty of life in prison. Reaction among some in the public has been especially harsh, with some calling her a spy and traitor. Kamm's trial was scheduled to begin in May 2010, unless her attorneys arrived at a plea bargain with the prosecution.
Though the prosecution originally sought the gag order, in this case Kamm and her attorneys felt it was in her interest to honor it as well. She has exerted great pressure on her supporters not to publicize her arrest or the charges against her. She asked the Hebrew Wikipedia
Hebrew Wikipedia
Hebrew Wikipedia is the Hebrew edition of Wikipedia. This edition began in July 2003 and has about articles as of .-Milestones:* July 8, 2003: The Hebrew edition of Wikipedia was launched....
to remove the article about her (although a deletion vote was opened before her request was made), which raised controversy both within the Hebrew Wikipedia community and among free speech and free press advocates within Israel and abroad.
The case raised profound questions about the balance between national security and press scrutiny. Advocates for human rights and democracy both within Israel and outside are closely monitoring the case. The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
issued a statement saying that "Defence of national security is a legitimate objective but censorship must not be used to prevent the Israel Defence Forces from being held responsible if they broke the law."
Although a gag order
Gag order
A gag order is an order, sometimes a legal order by a court or government, other times a private order by an employer or other institution, restricting information or comment from being made public.Gag orders are often used against participants involved in a lawsuit or criminal trial...
was initially issued in late January 2010 while Kamm was in house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
, the Israeli journalist Yitzhak Tessler of NRG Ma'ariv was the first to refer to the affair in his column where he called journalists to find ways to make the publish the details surrounding the affair. Beside several Israeli blogs, that soon deleted the information they published about the affair (some deleted the information due to the gag order and some due to a request from Kamm herself) and The Seventh Eye
HaAyin HaShevi'it
HaAyin HaShevi'it is an Israeli internet site that discusses the investigation and criticism of the media, especially mass media in Israel.The magazine was first published in 1996, initially once every two months. It delivered its final print issue, #70, in January 2008...
, an Israeli site that discusses the investigation and criticism of the Israeli media, which dropped hints about the affair, no Israeli media outlet published any details about Kamm's arrest.
Outside of Israel, the first to published details of affair (in mid-March 2010) was Richard Silverstein, a Jewish-American blogger. The first full publication (by an established media source) appeared at the end of March 2010 in the Jewish news agency "Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency is an international news agency serving Jewish community newspapers and media around the world. The JTA was founded on February 6, 1917, by Jacob Landau as the Jewish Correspondence Bureau in The Hague with the mandate of collecting and disseminating news among and...
" (JTA) from the United States. In the following days the affair was published in many newspapers and news agencies. After the details of the affair were published in various media outlets worldwide, the Israeli media began to carefully hint about the affair. The Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
newspaper and Channel 10
Channel 10
Channel 10 can refer to:*Channel 10 album by rap duo Capone-N-Noreaga*Channel 10 - Tucumán *Channel 10 , 24/7 Bengali news channel*Network Ten in Australia*Channel 10 *Channel 10 *TV10...
filed a petition to the District Court in Tel Aviv against the gag order
Gag order
A gag order is an order, sometimes a legal order by a court or government, other times a private order by an employer or other institution, restricting information or comment from being made public.Gag orders are often used against participants involved in a lawsuit or criminal trial...
which was eventually lifted on April 8.
With the removal of the gag order an extensive discussion was held in the Israeli media about Kamm's actions. The dominant approach in the media was that Kamm's actions risked lives without a real justification. Various parties have supported Kamm's actions, including "Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
". Richard Silverstein classified Kamm on the same level of Julian Assange
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange is an Australian publisher, journalist, writer, computer programmer and Internet activist. He is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website and conduit for worldwide news leaks with the stated purpose of creating open governments.WikiLeaks has published material...
and Bradley Manning, as a world-class whistleblower.
Legal proceedings
On 14 January 2010 Kamm was indicted for severe espionageEspionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
.
On 6 February 2011 Kamm was convicted in the Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
District Court after pleading guilty in a plea bargain
Plea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
to leaking more than 2,000 secret military documents to the Israeli Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
newspaper. The plea bargain contained that Kamm would not be charged with damaging national security, which carried a life sentence if convicted. Instead, she was charged with leaking classified materials, which carries a 15 year maximum sentence. The prosecution was expected to ask for a nine year sentence.
On 30 October 2011, Kamm was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison and 18 months probation. The panel of judges ruled that the two years Kamm had spent under house arrest would not be deducted from her sentence.
External links
- Original reporting on Kamm case at Tikun Olam, March 14, 2010
- Debate in Israel on Gag Order in Security Leak Case, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, April 7, 2010 - Mya Guarnieri (Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
), Israeli journalist to go on trial for treason over leaked papers, The NationalThe National (Abu Dhabi)The National is a government-owned English-language daily newspaper published in Abu Dhabi. The editor-in-chief since June 8, 2009 has been Hassan Fattah. Prior to this, and from the launch of the newspaper Martin Newland was editor-in-chief. Mubadala Development Company, an investment company...
, April 3, 2010 - L'histoire que la presse israélienne ne peut pas (encore) raconter, Le MondeLe MondeLe Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
, April 3, 2010 - It cannot happen here, "The Seventh Eye", March 28, 2010