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Uri Blau ( he, אורי בלאו; born 1977) is an Israeli investigative
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
writing for ''
Haaretz
''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...
'' newspaper and other publications. He is specialized in military affairs, corruption and "follow the money" investigations. Blau was convicted of possession of classified IDF documents and sentenced to community service for his role in the
Kamm-Blau affair.
Career
Blau began his journalistic career in ''
Kol Ha'ir'', a
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
weekly newspaper. He specialized in exposing cases of misconduct by
IDF
IDF or idf may refer to:
Defence forces
* Irish Defence Forces
* Israel Defense Forces
*Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006
* Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917
Organizations
* Israeli Diving Federation
* Interac ...
soldiers. Unlike other military correspondents, he did not join the Military Reporters Section and tended to rely on low-ranking enlisted personnel, rather than high-ranking officers.
In 2005 Blau joined the daily ''
Haaretz
''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...
'' and published a articles exposing alleged corruption by
Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert (; he, אֶהוּד אוֹלְמֶרְט, ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as the 12th Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and before that as a cabinet minister from 1988 to 1992 and ...
, then leader of
Kadima
Kadima ( he, קדימה, lit=''Forward'') was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan ...
Party, candidate for
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
and later
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
. This exposé has led to a criminal investigation and to Olmert's indictment. Another investigation that led to a major police investigation was about
Avigdor Liberman
Avigdor Lieberman (, ; russian: Эве́т Льво́вич Ли́берман, Evet Lvovich Liberman, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician serving as Ministry of Finance (Israel), Minister of Finance since 2021, having prev ...
, head of
Israel Beitenu party. Blau revealed that a company owned by Liberman's daughter, who was in her early twenties, received unexplained payment in the millions of dollars Other investigations focused on former Prime Minister
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak ( he-a, אֵהוּד בָּרָק, Ehud_barak.ogg, link=yes, born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until Jan ...
, Former IDF Chief Moshe Yaalon, the
Kabbalah Laam organization and more, such as an article about exploring his roots in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Israeli connections to a mine in Kosovo. IN 2014 Blau completed a fellowship at th
Nieman Foundation for Journalismat
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. He has published articles and investigations in various publications, including AP, ProPublica, Washington Post, Quartz, The Nation, Mashable, Times of Israel and more.
Blau is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
ICIJ
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Inc. (ICIJ), is an independent global network of 280 investigative journalists and over 140 media organizations spanning more than 100 countries. It is based in Washington, D.C. with pe ...
. He is a member of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize winning team for the
Panama Papers
The Panama Papers ( es, Papeles de Panamá) are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) that were published beginning on April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 ...
project, and contributed to other global investigations such as the
FinCEN Files
The FinCEN Files are documents from the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), that have been leaked to '' BuzzFeed News'' and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), and published globally on 20 ...
. As part of that investigation he co-produced the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
documentary "The Settlers’ Billionaire Backer" about the role of
Roman Abramovich
Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (, ; he, רומן ארקדיביץ' אברמוביץ'; born 24 October 1966) is a Russian Russian oligarchs, oligarch and politician. He is the former owner of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, a Premier League football club ...
owned companies in supporting settler group
Ir David Foundation
Ir David Foundation or City of David Foundation, commonly known as Elad l'ad( he, אלע"ד, an acronym for "אל עיר דוד", meaning "to the City of David") is a Jerusalem-based, Israeli settler association which aims to strengthen the Jewi ...
.In 2021 Blau led the
Pandora Papers
The Pandora Papers are 11.9 million leaked documents with 2.9 terabytes of data that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published beginning on 3 October 2021. The leak exposed the secret offshore accounts of 3 ...
investigations in Israel. Later that year Blau joined
OCCRP
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is a global network of investigative journalists with staff on six continents. It was founded in 2006 and specializes in organized crime and corruption. It publishes its stories through ...
as the Director of the Global Anti Corruption Consortium
GACC.
In 2022 Blau joined Israel-based nonprofit investigative platfor
Shomrimas an investigative journalist and Director of Global Investigative Projects.
Anat Kamm affair
Background
In November 2008, Blau published a story in ''Haaretz'' saying that the
targeted killing
Targeted killing is a form of murder or assassination carried out by governments outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield.
Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention within and betw ...
of one of two
Islamic Jihad militants killed in
Jenin
Jenin (; ar, ') is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate of the State of Palestine and is a major center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, Jenin had a population of app ...
in June 2007 had violated a prior ruling of the
Supreme Court of Israel
The Supreme Court (, ''Beit HaMishpat HaElyon''; ar, المحكمة العليا) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction.
The Supreme C ...
. The ruling had "heavily restricted the circumstances in which they were permissible, effectively saying that killing should not take place if arrest was possible." The report reproduced two IDF memos classified as
top secret
Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to know, ...
, indicating that the IDF had ignored the Supreme Court ruling. Publications dealing with military affairs have to be submitted to the
Israeli Military Censor
The Israeli Military Censor ( he, הצנזורה הצבאית) is a unit in the IDF Directorate of Military Intelligence tasked with carrying out preventive censorship inside the State of Israel regarding the publication of information that might ...
; the censor approved the publication of this report. This fact would later be used as argument that no damage was done by the publication.
Speculation began immediately about who Blau's inside source was. It took a year before attention focused on
Anat Kamm
Anat (, ), Anatu, classically Anath (; uga, 𐎓𐎐𐎚 ''ʿnt''; he, עֲנָת ''ʿĂnāṯ''; ; el, Αναθ, translit=Anath; Egyptian: '' ꜥntjt'') was a goddess associated with warfare and hunting, best known from the Ugaritic texts ...
, a former clerk in the office of a senior IDF commander. She had worked as a journalist before and after her military service.
A week before
Operation Cast Lead
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
began (December 2008), Blau submitted to the censor an exposé revealing he had possession of IDF military plans for the Operation. At first, the report was approved for publication. Then, just before it was distributed the censor changed its mind and ''Haaretz'' agreed to withdraw the story.
Arrest of Anat Kamm
In the year, leading up to Kamm's arrest, Blau also published another article regarding Defense Minister
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak ( he-a, אֵהוּד בָּרָק, Ehud_barak.ogg, link=yes, born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until Jan ...
and Chief of Staff
Gaby Ashkenazi. The reporter claimed that Barak, on becoming minister, had transferred his private consulting company to his three daughters, violating the regulation allowing such a transfer only if the daughters were actually employed by the company. Furthermore, the company which he gave to his daughters took in nearly $2-million from unknown sources after he entered the government. Blau also claimed that after leaving the army and joining the private sector, Ashkenazi approached Barak about entering into business with him.
In September 2009, the
Shin Bet
The Israel Security Agency (ISA; he, שֵׁירוּת הַבִּיטָּחוֹן הַכְּלָלִי; ''Sherut ha-Bitaẖon haKlali''; "the General Security Service"; ar, جهاز الأمن العام), better known by the acronym Shabak ( he, ...
negotiated a written agreement with Blau to hand over 50 classified documents and destroy his work computer. In return the IDF agreed not to pursue or prosecute his source. In December 2009, the Shin Bet secretly arrested Anat Kamm and began interrogating her. Eventually, she was accused of leaking as many as 2,000 documents to the reporter. Blau and ''Haaretz'' viewed the soldier's arrest as a violation of their agreement.
Blau, who had left Israel on an Asian backpacking trip that same month of Kamm's arrest, decided to remain abroad pending resolution of the case and eventually ended up in London. The Shin Bet publicly announced that they want to question and perhaps prosecute him.
[ He claimed journalistic privilege and refused to return until he has guarantees about the outcome of his case.
On October 24, 2010 Uri Blau returned to Israel.
Israelis have exhibited mixed feelings about Blau. Some view him as little better than a traitor out to harm the national security. Others support his work. A group of 12 senior Israeli journalists petitioned the government not to prosecute Blau if he returns from London and gives back any outstanding documents he may still possess. After Blau became the first journalist in Israel convicted for possession of classified information, ]Freedom House
Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...
dropped Israel to ‘Partially Free’ status in its 2013 “Freedom of the Press Index”.
Indictment of Blau
In March 2011 the Israeli Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry.
Lists of current ministries of justice
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia)
* Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Just ...
announced its intention to put Blau on trial, subject to the hearing
Hearing, or auditory perception, is the ability to perceive sounds
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psycholog ...
, charged with maintaining classified items without authorization.
In May 2012 it was announced that he will be indicted for "possession of classified IDF documents."
In July 2012, Blau accepted a plea bargain
A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...
that would see him sentenced to four months' community service but avoid serving any time in prison. He completed four months community service in January 2013, publishing an article about the experience in Haaretz newspaper in August 2013.
Civil Lawsuit
In April 2013 Kamm sued Haaretz
''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...
, its publisher and Blau for allegedly operating in a negligent way that eventually led to her exposure as Blau's source. In 2018 Tel Aviv District Court accepted Kamm's lawsuit. Haaretz and Blau appealed to Israel's Supreme Court against that verdict. Their appeal was accepted. In January 2020 Supreme Court dismissed the District Court verdict in its entirety. As a gesture of good will Haaretz has agreed to participate in paying part of Kamm's legal fees, at the amount of $100,000.
See also
* Anat Kamm – Uri Blau affair
Uri Blau's Personal Website
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blau, Uri
Israeli journalists
Living people
1977 births
Haaretz people