A U.S. citizen recently arrested for allegedly sharing nuclear secrets and other classified information with Israel is believed to have collaborated with the same Israeli agent as a former Navy intelligence analyst serving a life sentence for spying, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, April 22).
Former Army mechanical engineer Ben-Ami Kadish, 84, told the FBI he leaked between 50 and 100 classified documents to Israel from August 1979 to July 1985. His Israeli handler said the information had a "direct correlation to Israel's security" and would help to "protect Israel," an FBI affidavit says.
The criminal complaint against Kadish identifies the Israeli collaborator only as "co-conspirator 1." However, Israeli media and a former prosecutor said the agent is Yosef Yagur, who worked at the Israeli Consulate in New York. Yagur left the United States shortly after another agent, former Navy analyst Jonathan Pollard, was arrested and accused of spying in late 1985.
Kadish communicated with his former facilitator on March 20, shortly after the FBI began questioning him, according to the affidavit. "Don't say anything," the agent allegedly said. "Let them say whatever they want. What happened 25 years ago? You didn't remember anything."
Kadish denied speaking to his one-time handler when interviewed by the FBI the next day. That ultimately led to charges that he hindered an investigation and lied to law enforcement officials. In addition, he has been charged with conspiracy to disclose documents related to U.S. defense programs and conspiracy to serve as an Israeli agent.
"It's a fascinating case of another agent in place, another sleeper, with the very same handler," said Joseph diGenova, a former U.S. prosecutor who handled Jonathan Pollard's case. "We always suspected there were other people. [Kadish's] tradecraft was apparently better than Pollard's" (Carrie Johnson, Washington Post, April 23).
The U.S. State Department expressed concern about the case, Agence France-Presse reported.
"We would expect that Israel would not be engaged in such activities," spokesman Tom Casey said.
An Israeli official today, though, attempted to minimize the significance of the spying case.
"This affair is a momentary embarrassment, but it will not harm the privileged relations between Israel and the United States," the official said (Agence France-Presse/Google News, April 23).