Uri Blau

Uri Blau (Hebrew: אורי בלאו; born 1977) is an Israeli journalist and currently an investigative reporter for Haaretz newspaper and other publications, specializing in military affairs and exposing corruption. He was convicted of possession of classified IDF documents and sentenced to community service for his role in the Kamm-Blau affair.

Early career

Blau began his journalistic career in Kol Ha'ir, a Jerusalem weekly newspaper. He specialized in exposing cases of misconduct by IDF soldiers. Unlike other military correspondents, he did not join the Military Reporters Section and tended to rely on low-ranking enlisted personal, rather than high-ranking officers.

In 2005 Blau joined the daily Haaretz and published a few articles claiming to expose corruption by Ehud Olmert, then leader of Kadima Party, candidate for Prime Minister and later Prime Minister. This exposé has led to a criminal investigation and to Olmert's indictment. An investigation regarding Avigdor Liberman, head of Israel Beitenu party, which claimed that he used a company nominally owned by his daughter, who was in her early twenties, to obtain large payments. Other investigations focused on former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Former IDF Chief Moshe Yaalon, the Kabbalah Laam organization and more, such as an article about exploring his roots in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Israeli connections to a mine in Kosovo. Recently, Uri Blau completed a fellowship at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University and wrote for international publications such as ProPublica, Quartz, The Nation, Fusion, Mashable, and Foreign Policy.