Officials have not ruled out the prospect that many of the documents
ended up with United Nations human rights coordinator Richard Goldstone,
something denied by Ms. Kam's attorneys. In 2009, Goldstone published a report that accused Israel of war crimes in the
Gaza Strip.
The Israel Security Agency plans to investigate the Haaretz reporter who
received the classified military documents. The reporter was identified as
Uri Blau, who wrote stories of Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip, and was
currently in Britain.
"We should have taken the gloves off a long time ago," ISA director
Yuval Diskin told a news conference on April 7.
Ms. Kam has been under house arrest since December 2009 although she
maintains access to the Israeli media. Officials said she served as aide to
Naveh's office director from 2005 through 2007.
"Such information could cause the failure of operations," Israeli
military analyst Shmuel Gordon said. "Don't forget that in wake of the theft
planners were forced to revise commands in Operation Cast Lead so that
terrorists couldn't stage ambushes. This is the grave repercussion of
stealing documents and relaying them to the media."
A senior officer said the army modified combat operations in 2008 and
2009 after it determined that at least 2,000 documents were stolen from
Central Command. The officer said the revisions included the conduct of the
23-day war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, known as Operation Cast Lead and
which ended in January 2009.
"The plans were revised to ensure the safety of Israeli troops," the
officer said.