Uri Blau

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 dropped Israel to ‘Partially Free’ status in its 2013 “Freedom of the Press Index”.

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 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.

In March 2011 the Israeli Ministry of Justice announced its intention to put Blau on trial, subject to the hearing, charged with maintaining Classified items without authorization.

In September 2009, the Shin Bet 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.

In November 2008, Blau published a story in Haaretz saying that the targeted killing of one of two Islamic Jihad militants killed in Jenin in June 2007 had violated a prior ruling of the Supreme Court of Israel. 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, 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 censor approved the publication of this report. This fact would later be used as argument that no damage was done by the publication.

A week before Operation Cast Lead 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.

In 2005 Blau joined the daily Haaretz and published a few articles claiming to expose corruption by Ehud Olmert, then leader of Kadima Party, candidate for Prime Minister and later Prime Minister. This exposé has led to a criminal investigation and to Olmert's indictment. An investigation regarding Avigdor Liberman, head of Israel Beitenu party, which claimed that he used a company nominally owned by his daughter, who was in her early twenties, to obtain large payments. Other investigations focused on former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, 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. Recently, Uri Blau completed a fellowship at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University and wrote for international publications such as ProPublica, Quartz, The Nation, Fusion, Mashable, and Foreign Policy.

Uri Blau (Hebrew: אורי בלאו ‎; born 1977) is an Israeli journalist and currently an investigative reporter for Haaretz newspaper and other publications, specializing in military affairs and exposing corruption. He was convicted of possession of Classified IDF documents and sentenced to community service for his role in the Kamm-Blau affair.