A female IDF soldier has been charged with overstepping authority and endangering the security of the state, Ynet is reporting.

The soldier is accused of removing a disk on key containing hundreds of classified documents, some of them regarding Iran and labeled ‘Top Secret’, from the offices of the National Security Council a few months ago.

Upon discovering the transgression, officials from the Prime Minister’s Office immediately had the soldier detained for questioning and her personal computer and cellular phone, where the information was stored, were confiscated.

The soldier claimed during questioning that she had taken the disk in order to give it to her commander because she believed that keeping confidential material in such a manner constituted neglect. Her attorney says she did not intend to do any harm.

The military prosecution did not accept this explanation, however, and decided to indict her on charges that carry a sentence of up to five years in prison. There has been no evidence so far that the soldier copied any of the material.

The soldier is performing mandatory army service with a team that maintains encoded communication networks. She was visiting the National Security Council offices with a number of other soldiers brought in to do maintenance work.

A female IDF soldier has been charged with overstepping authority and endangering the security of the state, Ynet has learned.

The soldier is accused of removing a disk on key containing hundreds of classified documents, some of them regarding Iran and labeled ‘Top Secret’, from the offices of the National Security Council a few months ago.

Upon discovering the transgression, officials from the Prime Minister’s Office immediately had the soldier detained for questioning and her personal computer and cellular phone, where the information was stored, were confiscated.

The soldier claimed during questioning that she had taken the disk in order to give it to her commander because she believed that keeping confidential material in such a manner constituted neglect. Her attorney says she did not intend to do any harm.

The military prosecution did not accept this explanation, however, and decided to indict her on charges that carry a sentence of up to five years in prison. There has been no evidence so far that the soldier copied any of the material.

The soldier is performing mandatory army service with a team that maintains encoded communication networks. She was visiting the National Security Council offices with a number of other soldiers brought in to do maintenance work.

She found the disk on key during her visit, placed it in her bag, and traveled from central Israel to her home in the south, the prosecution says. After a few hours its absence was noticed and the investigation began.

Some 600 documents were stored on the device, many of them labeled ‘Top Secret’. “The exposure of these documents to an unaccredited source could cause severe and ongoing damage to the state’s security,” the indictment says.

(Source: Ynet)