Ex-soldier, jailed for secrets leak, seeks damages

A former soldier, jailed for leaking secret military documents obtained during her service that were then published by Haaretz, is seeking damages from the newspaper for not protecting her identity.

Anat Kamm, who is serving three and a half years in prison for leaking classified military documents, is claiming NIS 2 million ($543,000) from the daily for ruining her life.

Her lawyer, Ilan Bombach, wrote in a letter to Haaretz that his client’s career as a journalist, her university studies and her life were ruined when she was investigated, charged and ultimately jailed.

“Not only was my client arrested, but her life was arrested too,” Bombech wrote.

In her claim against the paper Kamm argues that Haaretz did not do enough to protect her identity from being revealed and that she then suffered the consequences.

Haaretz’s legal representatives, Mibi Moser and Tal Lieblich, responded to the letter by saying that at first glance, there seemed to be no basis for the claim for damages.

The claim revolves around the relationship between Haaretz reporter Uri Blau and Kamm. In 2006, while serving as an assistant in the office of Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh — then commander of Israel’s Central Command — Kamm made copies of thousands of documents from his office, including some that covered targeted assassinations. After she was discharged from the army she passed them on to Blau, who published them in a series of articles.

Blau was questioned by the security services and eventually agreed to relinquish the documents. However, his articles also led the investigators to Kamm, who was arrested and put on trial. In October 2011, she was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and 18 months’ probation

For his role in the saga, Blau was sentenced to four months’ community service in October 2012 as part of a plea bargain in which he admitted holding secret documents.

In December 2012 the Supreme Court reduced Kamm’s jail term by 12 months.