JERUSALEM (JTA) – The prison sentence of former Israeli soldier Anat Kamm, who turned classified military documents over to a reporter, was shortened by one year.
On Monday, Israel’s Supreme Court cut the 4 1/2-year term in response to an appeal filed by Kamm in July. She now likely will go free by February 2014.
Kamm entered the Neve Tirza prison in Ramle last November. The original sentence and 18-month probation ordered by the Tel Aviv District Court was well below the 15 years requested by prosecutors. Her two-year house arrest was not counted as time served.
Kamm was convicted in February 2011 of collecting, holding and passing on classified information without authorization. She had been charged originally with espionage, but the charge was dropped as part of a plea bargain. Kamm was arrested in early 2010.
She admitted to stealing about 2,000 documents, including hundreds identified as classified or top secret, which she downloaded on two discs, while serving her mandatory military service in the Israeli army’s Central Command. She turned the information over to Haaretz reporter Uri Blau, who wrote stories based on the information that were approved by the military censor. The stories led to a search for Blau’s source.
Following her military service, Kamm was a media reporter for Walla, an online news site that at the time was partly owned by Haaretz.
As part of her filing, Kamm pointed out that Blau, who also accepted a plea bargain, was sentenced to four months of community service.
