The state of Israel has come to a plea bargain agreement with the lawyers of Israeli journalist Uri Blau in which the journalist will admit to possessing classified documents without authorisation, and the state will ask that Blau be allowed to do community service in lieu of prison time, according to local and international reports. The agreement is still subject to the approval of the court, which should take a decision later this month, according to the Jerusalem Post.

The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of publishers, editors and leading journalists based in Vienna, expressed relief that jail time is apparently off the table, but is dismayed that the state prosecutor decided to indict Blau at all.

In 2008, Uri Blau published stories alleging that the Israeli military had given soldiers the orders to kill suspected terrorists, in what may have been a violation of an Israeli court decision. The former soldier who leaked the documents to Blau is now serving a four-and-a-half year prison term.

IPI has repeatedly called for the charges against Blau to be dropped. In March 2012, IPI’s executive board made the same call in a unanimously-adopted resolution. In June, they joined the heads of IPI national committees around the world in appealing to the Israeli Attorney General to end the prosecution.

Also in June 2012, IPI members meeting at the organisation’s annual conference unanimously adopted a resolution calling on governments to “respect the rights of journalists to use leaked information and to protect their sources”.

“Journalists play a key role in ensuring government transparency and accountability, which at times requires the publication of classified information in the public interest,” they noted.

IPI members said: “While there is a legitimate need for governments to keep some information secret to protect national security, the guidelines for the classification of information must be as narrowly defined as possible and a public interest defence must be available for those who reveal or publish such information.” The resolution specifically called on Israel to drop charges against Uri Blau.