JERUSALEM: An investigative journalist who cited classified documents provided by a military whistleblower has returned to Israel after spending nearly a year abroad wanted by the state, his employer said Monday.
The reporting by Uri Blau was at the center of a military espionage case that led to the arrest of a former female soldier who has been charged with leaking more than 2,000 military documents. Many of them were handed over to Blau.
The former soldier, Anat Kamm, had been under house arrest since December, but the case was kept under wraps by a court-imposed gag order that wasn’t lifted until April. She has been charged with passing information with the intent of harming national security.
Blau cited some of the material he received from Kamm in a story accusing the military of killing Palestinian militants in violation of an Israeli Supreme Court ruling. After Kamm’s arrest, Blau remained abroad in London and Berlin, fearing prosecution in the case.
Haaretz reported Monday that Blau handed over more than 1,500 stolen military documents and is to appear for questioning by Tuesday in an agreement worked out with the state.
Blau’s lawyer, Mibi Moser, told Israel Radio that the deal between his client and the state prosecutor maintained national security while protecting freedom of the press. The Justice Ministry said that after Blau is questioned, the state prosecutor’s office would decide whether to press charges.
Moser said he did not ask for assurances Blau would not stand trial because he doesn’t think he committed a crime. The reporter returned to Israel on Sunday from Berlin.
Israel’s "targeted killing" policy was one of its most contentious in its fight against a Palestinian uprising that began in 2000. Critics charged it to be illegal extrajudicial killing, while supporters credited it with quashing the Palestinian campaign of suicide bombings and shooting attacks.
In late 2006, Israel’s Supreme Court set strict restrictions on assassinations in the West Bank, limiting them to extraordinary cases.
Officially, the military stopped the practice following the ruling.
The Haaretz report cited a document from March 2007 that included an order from the top Israeli commander in the West Bank permitting forces to fire upon three top Palestinian militants even if they did not pose a clear and present danger.
At the time of the memos, Kamm served in the commander’s office.
