Israeli Reporter Faces Charges Over Army Story
Israel’s Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein announced on Wednesday his intention to indict Haaretz journalist Uri Blau for possession of classified Israel Defense Forces documents.
According to a press release by the State Prosecutor’s Office, Blau was in possession of thousands of military and top-secret documents, which were stolen from the IDF by Anat Kamm, an Israeli woman who was convicted in February of collecting, holding and passing on classified information without authorization.
Although the charges include the terms “severe espionage,” Blau is not charged with an espionage offense.
The justice department said that the decision was made “after taking into account all of the relevant considerations, including the need to restrain the enforcement policy in order to maintain the Israeli press as a free press which fulfills its duty.”
“However,” the statement read, “the attorney general believes – based on the positions… of the State Prosecutor’s office, the Shin Bet security service and Israel Police – that this case is an extreme one in terms of the severity of Blau’s actions.”
For more, go to Haaretz.com
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO