- The Media Line - https://themedialine.org -

Jailed former Prime Minister in Maelstrom over Publication of Classified Documents

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is currently serving time in prison on corruption charges. But he’s nevertheless in the middle of a security maelstrom involving his access to and use of classified material in a book he’s writing. As a by-product of the investigation, many political figures are livid over the fact that Israeli police raided a publishing house owned by a leading newspaper, arguing that the raid was an attack on press freedoms. Some 11,000 emails were seized in the raid, but a technical glitch rendered them unreadable so discs were destroyed. A judge has ordered police to return any material still held lest future authors be discouraged from pursuing their projects. A parliamentary committee has been empowered to hold a discussion on the matter. It is not clear how Olmert has obtained the classified material.