Anat Kam Accused of Espionage

Anat KamPic: Anat Kam

The gag order which prevented the Israeli media from reporting about the Anat Kam affair was lifted on Thursday and the local media outlets have begun reporting on the issue extensively.

It has now been revealed that Kam had stolen documents while she served as an IDF soldier in the office of Yair Naveh, then Central Command Chief. All in all she stole more than 2,000 documents, 700 of which were classified as secret or top secret. Allegedly, Kam subsequently leaked the documents to Haaretz newspaper. She is now being accused of a number of serious offences, including leaking secret information without authorization in an attempt to compromise the State's security and possession of classified information. These offences are considered espionage and are punishable with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Haaretzreporter Uri Blau wrote a series of articles beginning in November 2008 discussing the assassinations of Palestinians by the IDF. Blau wrote that the army decided to ignore High Court rulings in regards to assassinations of Palestinians and that assassinations were carried out even in cases where wanted terror suspects could have been arrested.

Blau’s reports were allegedly based on the documents that Kam had leaked to him. An investigation revealed that Kam allegedly transferred all or some of the material she stole to Blau in September or October of 2008. Blau handed the Shin Bet some 50 documents that he had received from Kam but it is believed that Kam transferred all the stolen documents to him. As was reported earlier this week, Blau has since fled Israel to London.

Kam herself was indicted on January 14, following an investigation by the Shin Bet and the IDF, and was placed under house arrest pending trial.

Yoaz Yitzhak, Editor-in-Chief of News1, provided an analysis of the story in an article on the website. He pointed out that Kam originally tried to transfer the documents to Yediot Aharonot, but that did not go through. After she gave the information to Blau she got a job as a reporter for Walla!, a website which is owned by Haaretz, which can even be seen as a bribe.

Yitzhak also explained that Blau had an agreement with investigators under which he said that he had no additional documents in his possession, yet a search of his house found a diskette with more top secret documents. Blau, having understood that he would be suspected of obstruction of justice, fled the country.

Yitzhak added that the gag order continued to be imposed since Blau fled Israel and there was uncertainty whether all the documents were seized. There was also a concern that the documents might have gone into the wrong hands. Negotiations were held with Haaretz and Uri Blau regarding obtaining all the documents, yet both Haaretz and Blau demanded that Blau be immune from being arrested and/or prosecuted. Yitzhak explained that the negotiations failed and this is why the gag order was not removed sooner.

The attorney general's aide wrote on Thursday that the gag order which was lifted in Israel only today was maintained in order to allow officials to take possession of the stolen documents.

Haaretz Editor-in-Chief Dov Alfon commented on the issue on Thursday in an article published on the newspaper’s website: “Haaretz correspondent Uri Blau exposed over the last two years a series of affairs pertaining to the conduct of the Israel Defense Forces and branches of the defense establishment in the Palestinian territories. These included "an investigative report in November 2008 which revealed the result of discussions in which participated IDF Chief [Gabi] Ashkenazi - who was then the GOC Central Command - and the heads of the Shin Bet, which essentially gave instruction to carry out activities in violation of an order from the High Court of Justice. All of the articles which were published in Haaretz were sent to the censor and received its full permission for publication.”

Kam’s lawyers commented on her arrest as well. Her attorney Avigdor Feldman said that his client acted out of moral concerns and not in an attempt to compromise state security. Attorney Eitan Lehman said in a press conference that at no point was Israel’s security compromised, and that Kam is not a member of any extremist political group.

Analyst Ron Ben Yishai wrote about the issue in Ynet News on Thursday, where he said that the affair makes everyone look bad, including the media, the Shin Bet, and Israel’s image. Ben Yishai explained that Haaretz is looking bad since the newspaper preferred to emphasize their journalistic achievements, thus causing their sources to be exposed and the investigation to be opened. He added that Haaretz is also wrong by refusing to do what would be the appropriate thing to do, ie. hand over to the state and to the IDF the remaining classified documents which they hold.

Ben Yishai also placed fault on the Shin Bet, saying that the decision to continue to impose the gag order was not right, particularly when the Shin Bet knew that continuing to impose the order was causing huge damage to Israel’s image abroad while at the same time not helping the investigation whatsoever. The bottom line, said Ben Yishai, is that Israel’s image as a democratic country has been tarnished.

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