Ex-Israeli soldier admits leaking secret military files

A former Israeli soldier has admitted leaking secret military information to a newspaper.

Anat Kamm pleaded guilty in return for the prosecution dropping more serious charges, which included spying and harming state security.

According to the charges, she passed more than 2,000 documents to the daily Haaretz newspaper.

Kamm, 24, will be sentenced at a later date and faces a maximum jail sentence of 15 years.

The Tel Aviv District Court heard that between 2005 and 2007 Kamm copied secret documents from army computers while working as a clerk in the office of a general.

After leaving the army and while working for an Israeli website, she gave the documents to a reporter from Haaretz.

Haaretz later published a report about a possibly-illegal Israeli operation to kill Palestinian militants in the West Bank.

Kamm was arrested in December 2009 although her detainment was only made public four months later. She has since been under house arrest.

Kamm's lawyer, Eitan Leman, said that the documents leaked to the Israeli journalist did not harm Israeli security.

Under the plea bargain, Kamm pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing secret information while the original charges that included harming state security were dropped.