Navigate to News section

Israel’s Semi-Secret Espionage Case

Journalist held under gag order

by
Marc Tracy
April 02, 2010
Say nothing.(Soulbounce)
Say nothing.(Soulbounce)

Tablet Magazine is based in New York City, and not in Israel. Which is why we can write that Israel is charging a journalist with espionage and treason related to her allegedly photocopying classified documents while she was a solider and then leaking them to Haaretz. JTA’s Ron Kampeas reports that the case is under a gag order in Israel.

Anat Kam was a journalist for a small paper that was until recently owned by Haaretz. Authorities are thought to believe that she leaked documents that revealed, according to a 2008 Haaretz report, that the IDF planned to circumvent a Supreme Court ruling that barred the assassination of terrorists who could be safely arrested. (Oddly, or perhaps not, the military censor did permit the publication of the story.)

The rub is that gag order (which Haaretz is appealing). Why does it exist? If someone over there knows, well, they’re not saying. There has been no Israeli reporting on the case—including the harsh 14-year sentence being sought—and therefore little overall reporting on it.

Instead, via blogger Richard Silverstein (one of the few reporters who is following the case), we have Maariv’s take on the situation: “Due to a gag order we cannot tell you what we know. Due to laziness, apathy and blind faith in the defense establishment we know nothing at all.”

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.