Charges of intent to harm state will reportedly be dropped against IDF soldier who allegedly leaked classified documents.
By RON FRIEDMANanat kamm court 311(photo credit: Ben Hartman)
Anat Kamm is expected to plead guilty to the possession and distribution of secret information at the Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday, as part of a plea bargain her attorneys settled with the state prosecution on Thursday.Kamm, who was originally charged with espionage with intent to harm national security, having leaked classified information to Haaretz journalist Uri Blau, material Kamm had collected while serving as assistant to the bureau chief of then-OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh between 2005 and 2007, will plead guilty to the lesser charges.RELATED:Anat Kamm espionage trial begins in Tel AvivReporter in Kamm espionage case returns to IsraelThe deal means that Kamm will not face a life sentence as she might have had the original indictment stood; the maximum penalty for possession and distribution of secret information is 15 years in prison. The sides failed to reach an agreement on the sentencing, with Kamm’s lawyers asking for a suspended prison sentence or community service and the state pushing for a nine-year prison sentence.Blau’s article that was published in October 2008 and accused the IDF of defying a High Court of Justice ruling against killing wanted Palestinian terrorists who could have been captured alive, used information gleamed from documents Kamm had copied and delivered to Blau.Kamm was identified by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) in late 2009 as the source of the leak, and she has been under house arrest since December of that year.Blau has yet to be indicted.
