No wonder, crimes of our own state are always put under gag orders. I highly recommend to read a lot more foreign press to get the real picture.

Our democracy is failing and flawed. And because of the chaos of the conflict, we accept this when we should be working to strengthen the country by strengthening the democracy for all citizens. Just FYI- Israel is considered a flawed democracy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index

This offended lawyer (who of course doesn't want his name to be mentioned) is forgetting some small details. No matter what you steal, however, you are a thief! No matter if classified or not classified, you are treason the faith the state put in you! No matter what this media man did with it, he was buying secret documents from the State of Israel! So, it is serious and both should be jailed. Don't they teach ethics where you learned to be a lawyer my friend?

Readers should take note that evidence is being held without any information given to Kam's lawyers. It is amazing that Kam is actually allowed a lawyer, because in our own country one does NOT have the right to an attorney until after the police and prosecution think they're finished with their exclusive access to you. Then, there's the issue of secret evidence being given in court that is used to convict - with no chance for questioning or cross examination. Wake up Israel, we need civil rights for ourselves!

However, it scratches badly on the "moral" army image that IDF is trying to sell. I don't think the IDF files are of relevance for foreign countries (they already know no such thing as 'moral' IDF), rather, some Israelis might get a wake up call about what has become of their country.

No and no - this is blatant immorality at work place. AND work place was army intelligence headquarters ! Not only are you obligated to secrecy in army but even some businesses have you sign a secrecy agreement. This woman was not a journalist when working in army - she STOLE 2000 pieces of paper with intelligence details on them. Democracy - Freedom of Press ? Sorry - you've gone too far - and I have studied journalism (once about a thousand years ago). It seems the SCOOP is what drives these people - not morality or information to the masses. Please do not protect her.

and breach of confidentiality oaths for soldiers and anyone working in a professional environment. Nice try, Mr. Justification-for-Lawyer-Jokes.

These are 2 different issues. One is if the press can print articles based on documents it has received and the other if a soldier can illegally copy and steal documents. Put her in jail for a long time.

The files are apparenetly very incriminating for IDF and when nothing helps it always becomes a security issue.

About time this appeared in the Israeli press too! We have all been reading about it for over a week in the foreign press on line - and they all emphasized that she was a soldier, not a journalist!

Oh, I'll bet reading the foreign press gives you the 'real picture' about Israel. After all, the foreign press has no axe to grind against Israel, and isn't colored by ideological bias, prejudice, stereotypes, and outright lies, is it? Among the entire BBC army of journalists, there isn't a single Hebrew-speaking correspondent, so obviously they must have received 'the truth' about Israel by direct line from God.

Believe it or not, there is a reason for why some documents are branded 'classified', which has nothing to do with simply maintaining a veil of secrecy, but protecting people's lives. There are evil people out there eager to get their hands on sensitive information and people's identies to use it to do harm. But I wouldn't expect you to understand that, in your cynical little world in which morality has been turned on its head.

Sex was the motivation not concern about morality !!!!!!!!!!!

freedom of the press, know one thing is certain - freedom of the press is not the issue. You have a working judiciary, which determined how this investigation is going. Not the PM. Not the army. Democracy is alive and well. This girl has admitted her wrong doing. Sentence her and be done with it. And quickly. The whole world can be ulp in flames but headlines will still be about alleged abuses in Israel.

Anat is a Leftist. Leftists put ideology over National Security every time. Let her rot behind bars.

is there any way u can lie to yourselves that she was right????? this is treason. her conscience??fine..it might have worked for 1 document, even 2, but 2000??? she should rot in jail.

What a sell out! What a betrayal. Many of the people enjoying freedom in this western hemisphere are very foolish. If this was done in Saudi Arabia they would have issued a fatwa against her and her family and subsequently beheaded her . Nehemiah would not be supprised. There were Israelis or Israelites of this type in his days, when he was rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. This lady and the journalist should repent and ask God for forgiveness. What a betrayal of freedom and liverty, what foolishness.

One cannot threaten what's already dead. What's really threatened here is the political-military leadership of Israel that approved orders that are far from kosher.

Perhaps the censor did a bad job.

If IDF approved orders that are contrary to court rulings (see shoot to kill policy) then it is the IDF that broke the law and not Anat. Exposing a crime is not a crime!

once i loaned a friend money to get her out of a hard spot. when i reminded her about the money, she said i had 'money issues'. 2000 classified documents were stolen from the IDF by this woman; that is the issue, we can only hope that national security was not compromised, but that is not the issue at hand. stealing is against the law and i seem to remember a little commandment about it as well...oh sorry, i guess that's too religious for a Jewish nation.

There are a number of points here. The first it is not, as so many have claimed, a threat to press freedom and a threat to democracy. Whether or not it was a matter of national security that she violated will eventually be decided in a court of law. However, she knew the documents were classified. At best, she committed theft. At worst, she committed theft and violated army regulations regarding classified documents. She did it knowingly and according to press reports she admitted it. Just on that point, she deserves a prison sentence. And if the court determines it endangered national security, then the sentence should be much longer. According to reports, the documents were submitted by Haaretz to the military censor. Apparently the censor was surprised at the documentation and turned them over to the shabak. After consultations, apparently shabak decided to investigate and the publication was approved not to endanger the investigation. Again, this by other media reports. Blau knew he had classified documents. On this point he should be sent to prison. It was reported that Kam first tried to give the documents to Yedeot and was turned down. She then turned to Haaretz. The other question is - did Haaretz know that the documents were classified and stolen. We will just have to wait and see what develops. But one thing is clear: Kam violated the law and no legal spinning can explain that away.

a couple come to a rabbi with a complaint. the rabbi listens to the wife and says to her, "you are right." then he listens the husband and says to him, "you are right." the rabbi's assistant who had been present throughout says to the rabbi, "rebe, how can you say to the wife she is right, then to the husband that he too is right. their stories are totally contradictory?" the rabbi thinks a moment and says to his assistant, "you too, my friend, are right." the material she smuggled out was proof of a flagrant violation of the law, and as a soldier she was compelled to put an end to what the law defines as unlawful killing (justified killing or unjustified, as one's political inclinations may lie). as a journalist, she knew she would have to pay a price for what she was doing, which was wrong by the standards of her employer. and she did, and we should say, honorably (if the stories are true that she told everyone else to remain silent). the blogosphere worked well in fighting for her freedom, as it should. i think, on this affair, we can all be quite proud of ourselves. one wonders if the army, convinced in its justifiability, would have kept it all silent if it truly had nothing to hide, however. an officer who believes in his way and is prepared to put in writing his deeds and orders in spite of the fact that he knows what he is ordering is against the law, is either a megalomanic psychopath or a truly ardent believer in his responsibility towards the safety of the public. that, at the end of the day, can only be a snap judgement based on personal acquaintance, which few of us have.

No wonder Netanyahu summed up one year in office before the gag order was lifted.

Given the current demographic trend (Arabs+, Religious+), Israel remains a semi-theocracy at best.

then Anat is no more guilty than Netanyahu + Lieberman.

The state should be in control of the armed forces and security services not the other way round ......... irrelevant if you condone the specific actions in this case or not.

What if there would have been a German 'stealing' and exposing the orders about eliminating the Jews?! If only half is true of what is published in foreign press then it is the orders that are against Israel's own laws. Exposing crimes is not stealing, it's an obligation. G'd day mate!

against expulsion and keep them for month in prison , but a real traitor who wants to destroy her country and her collaborator Blau and Haaretz get scott free, one in her home, one in London and one... continues its hatred work. Does Israel as a country have any future?