Photo by: AP [file]
09/04/2010 10:03
The IDF was forced to carry out adjustments to Operation Cast Lead military plans due to documents stolen by former soldier Anat Kamm and given to Haaretz reporter Uri Blau, a senior IDF officer told Army Radio overnight Thursday.
The officer said that after the IDF became aware of the leaked documents, a series of meetings were held at the highest military levels, which resulted in operational changes being made in order to ensure the safety of the IDF soldiers in Gaza.
Related:
Indictment says Kamm sought to harm state security
State: Gag order lifted after talks with Blau collapsed
Analysis: Dream for Arab intel, security nightmare for Shin Bet
Analysis: A scandal that leaves no one looking good
IDF gets set to lock the data barn
Meanwhile, Kamm’s mother, Ada Gersht, said that her daughter never had any intention of damaging Israel’s security and denied that she had radical leftist tenancies.
“Anat was a regular girl and had a regular childhood,” she told Army Radio. “She was very intelligent and knowledgeable, and knew how to express herself well, both orally and in her writing."
"But she never occupied herself with any political activities of any persuasion, and never belonged to the radical Left, contrary to the picture they are trying to paint in the media," she continued. "I want to believe that High Court rulings don't just apply to the extreme Left.”
“If she wanted to harm state security, she would have passed the documents directly to the Washington Post,” added Gersht. "But she chose not to do that, which proves she never had any intention of harming state security – and I’ll put my life on that.
The officer said that after the IDF became aware of the leaked documents, a series of meetings were held at the highest military levels, which resulted in operational changes being made in order to ensure the safety of the IDF soldiers in Gaza.
Related:
Indictment says Kamm sought to harm state security
State: Gag order lifted after talks with Blau collapsed
Analysis: Dream for Arab intel, security nightmare for Shin Bet
Analysis: A scandal that leaves no one looking good
IDF gets set to lock the data barn
Meanwhile, Kamm’s mother, Ada Gersht, said that her daughter never had any intention of damaging Israel’s security and denied that she had radical leftist tenancies.
“Anat was a regular girl and had a regular childhood,” she told Army Radio. “She was very intelligent and knowledgeable, and knew how to express herself well, both orally and in her writing."
"But she never occupied herself with any political activities of any persuasion, and never belonged to the radical Left, contrary to the picture they are trying to paint in the media," she continued. "I want to believe that High Court rulings don't just apply to the extreme Left.”
“If she wanted to harm state security, she would have passed the documents directly to the Washington Post,” added Gersht. "But she chose not to do that, which proves she never had any intention of harming state security – and I’ll put my life on that.
At an extraordinary press conference on Wednesday, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced that it now planned to accelerate its investigation of Blau, who is believed still to be in possession of hundreds of top-secret classified military documents that were stolen from the IDF by Kamm.
With the whereabouts of most of the documents still unknown, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin warned of a direct, ongoing threat to national security, and said his agency should have “taken the gloves off” long ago in pursuing the culprits.
According to the Shin Bet, in a case that was shrouded in secrecy for months until a court-imposed gag was lifted on Thursday, Kamm copied more than 2,000 documents when she was assistant to the bureau chief of OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh between 2005 and 2007.
