Plea bargain likely in Kam affair
Attorney for ex-soldier suspected of passing on classified IDF docs to Haaretz reporter will not be convicted of undermining state security; in return, prosecution will demand sentence that does not exceed nine years
The prosecution and Anat Kam's defense team have reached a plea bargain according to which the ex-Israeli soldier suspected of passing on secret IDF documents to Haaretz reporter Uri Blau will be convicted of gathering and possessing classified materials, but not of undermining state security. The State, in turn, will ask for a prison sentence that does not exceed nine years.
Attorney Eitan Lehman, who represents Kam along with Avigdor Feldman, told Ynet on Thursday, "The plea bargain reflects what we have been claiming from the start – that the offense attributed to her in the original indictment had nothing to do with this whole affair."
The plea bargain is expected to be submitted to the Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday.
In January of 2010 Kam was indicted for handing reporter Uri Blau some or all of more than 2,000 classified army documents she had stolen while serving in the office of former Central Command chief Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh.
The documents stolen by Kam contained plans of military operations, summaries of discussions within the IDF, deployment and order of battle (ORBAT) of IDF forces, summaries of internal IDF inquiries, IDF situation estimates, IDF targets and more.
In September it was reported that a plea bargain was in the works. According to the reports, Kam would be charged with "serious espionage" but without the intent to harm state security.
News of the affair broke out in April 2010, when Kam was working as a reporter for the Walla website.
In November 2008 Blau published a report based on documents he received from Kam. The report argued that IDF forces in the West Bank assassinated Palestinian terrorists, allegedly against Supreme Court rulings.
Following Blau's report, the leftist organization Yesh Gvul filed a High Court petition against Naveh's return to the army and his appointment as deputy IDF chief.
Recently, leftist organizations asked the High Court of Justice to issue a temporary injunction against after the government's decision to appoint Naveh to the post of interim IDF chief. this following the cancellation of Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant's appointment.
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