Israel Matzav: Outrageous: Once again, the <i>branja</i> protect their own

Thursday, July 05, 2012

Outrageous: Once again, the branja protect their own

The only institution in Israel that might be more unfairly Left than its Supreme Court is its prosecutors' office, whose 'stars' end up Supreme Court justices (yes, there is definitely a symbiotic relationship there, but we can discuss that another time).

Please recall Uri Blau, the Haaretz reporter who was indicted for receiving, holding onto and using classified IDF documents from self-proclaimed crusader Anat Kam. Recall also (from the first link in this paragraph) that one of the reasons that Blau was indicted was because he violated a deal he made with the State's attorneys to return all the documents in his possession.

In light of all that, you may be surprised to learn that Blau will soon be back in the field writing anti-Israel drivel for Israel's Hebrew 'Palestinian' daily. You see, the uber-Leftist prosecutors' office has reached a deal with the uber-Leftist reporter for Israel's uber-Leftist newspaper, pursuant to which Blau will be sentenced to four months in jail... all of which will be converted into community service.

The deal was sealed between Haaretz attorneys Mibi Muzar and Jacque Chen, who represented Blau, and Ariella Segal Antaler and Hadas Forer Gafni of the District Attorney's Office.

At the same time it filed the plea bargain, the District Attorney's office submitted its indictment against Blau, in which it accused him of illegally possessing approximately 1800 "top secret" and "secret" IDF documents.

Many journalists, including the Jerusalem Journalists Association, had loudly protested Blau’s arrest, even demonstrating outside the Justice Ministry in the capital over Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein’s decision to indict Blau.

Weinstein had announced that he would charge Blau with possession of classified military documents, which he received from former OC Central Command secretary Anat Kamm. The decision followed a 2008 story in which Blau, using leaked documents, revealed that the military planned in advance to kill Palestinian leaders and fighters, but then passed their deaths off as mishaps during “failed” attempts to arrest them.

Before the plea bargain, Blau was expected to be charged with aggravated espionage, which stipulates that obtaining, collecting, preparing, recording or keeping secret information without authorization, but without intent to harm state security, is punishable by seven years in prison.

Earlier, the attorney-general explained that before deciding to indict the reporter, he had taken into account “all the relevant considerations,” including the need to preserve the character of a free press and allow the media to carry out its essential role in ensuring the public’s right to know.

The next step is that Kam - who is appealing her 4.5 year sentence - will have that sentence commuted to time served since, after all, it now appears outrageous compared to Blau's joke of a sentence.

You can bet that those Neturei Karta guys who scribbled outrageous and offensive graffiti on Yad vaShem and several other sites will get stiffer sentences than four and a half months, and maybe even stiffer than four and a half years. After all, who is really endangering our national security? (And no, I'm not saying they should get off scot-free - only pointing out the likely imbalance in the sentences).

Labels: Anat Kam, Israeli national security, Uri Blau