Ben-Ami Kadish

Summary

Ben-Ami Kadish, a mechanical engineer at a U.S. Army weapons research facility in New Jersey, passed between 50 and 100 classified documents to Israeli intelligence over a six-year period from 1979 to 1985 — concurrent with and unknown to the Jonathan Pollard operation, and run by the same Israeli handler. He pleaded guilty in December 2008 to acting as an unregistered agent of Israel, admitting he gave classified documents to Israel in the 1980s. He was 85 years old at sentencing and received no prison time.

Background

Kadish was employed as a mechanical engineer by the United States Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at the Picatinny Arsenal in Dover, New Jersey from October 1963 to January 1990. The Arsenal maintained a library of classified national defense documents to which Kadish had authorized access as part of his engineering work. Kadish was born in Connecticut but raised in what was then British Mandatory Palestine, and had fought with the Haganah before returning to the United States.

His handler, Yosef Yagur, was simultaneously running Jonathan Pollard out of a different government agency. The two operations were apparently compartmented from each other — U.S. investigators did not learn of Kadish’s role until decades after Pollard’s 1985 arrest.

What Happened

On numerous occasions from approximately 1979 through 1985, Kadish borrowed classified documents from the Arsenal library and took them to his residence in New Jersey. At the residence, he would provide the documents to his handler, who photographed them in the basement, after which Kadish returned them to the Arsenal.

One of the classified documents contained information concerning nuclear weaponry and was classified as “Restricted Data” — a specific designation by the U.S. Department of Energy for atomic-related information. Another contained information concerning a modified version of an F-15 fighter jet that the United States had sold to another country, classified “Secret” and further restricted as “Noforn” — Not Releasable to Foreign Nationals. A third document contained information concerning the U.S. Patriot missile air defense system.

Kadish confessed to FBI agents that he had given the Israeli between 50 and 100 classified documents and accepted no cash in return, only small gifts and occasional dinners for him and his family.

After Pollard was exposed in 1985, his handler left the United States and Kadish went underground. He maintained contact with the handler, met him in Israel in 2004, and spoke with him by phone as recently as March 2008 — after his first FBI interview. The complaint stated that during that call, Kadish was told by the Israeli contact to lie to U.S. law enforcement agents. A day later, Kadish lied to FBI agents about his communications with the Israeli handler.

Key Figures

• Ben-Ami Kadish — U.S. Army mechanical engineer, Picatinny Arsenal; primary defendant; pleaded guilty December 2008.
• Yosef Yagur — Israeli government handler; served as Consul for Science Affairs at the Israeli Consulate General in Manhattan; ran both Kadish and Pollard simultaneously; departed the U.S. in November 1985 following Pollard’s arrest and never returned.
• Rafi Eitan — Senior Mossad official; headed LAKAM, the Israeli Defense Ministry scientific intelligence unit under which both operations ran.
• Judge William H. Pauley III — U.S. District Judge, Southern District of New York; sentenced Kadish and publicly questioned the 23-year delay in prosecution.

Official Response

The U.S. government did not charge Kadish until April 2008 — 23 years after the espionage ended. At sentencing, U.S. District Judge William Pauley stated: “Why it took the government 23 years to charge Mr. Kadish is shrouded in mystery.” He further noted: “It is clear the government could have charged Mr. Kadish with far more serious crimes.”

Prosecutors recommended no prison time as part of the plea agreement. The Israeli government, when contacted at the time of arrest, referred all calls to officials in Israel, where a foreign ministry spokesman said: “We know nothing about it. We have nothing to say.”

Consequences

Kadish was fined $50,000 and spared prison time. He died in July 2012 at age 88 without serving a day in prison for the espionage.

The Israeli handler, Yosef Yagur, faced no legal consequences in the United States. He retired to Tel Aviv and was never extradited or charged.

Significance

The Kadish case adds a dimension to the Pollard record that is often overlooked: the Israeli LAKAM operation was running at least two simultaneous agents inside different branches of the U.S. defense establishment, tasked with different but complementary material — Pollard focused on signals intelligence and regional military assessments, Kadish on weapons systems including nuclear weapons data. The 23-year gap between the espionage and the arrest, the judge’s public criticism of both the delay and the leniency of the charges, and the complete absence of any legal consequence for the Israeli handler create a documented pattern that the Pollard case alone does not establish. No official explanation for the prosecution delay has ever been provided.

Sources

• U.S. Department of Justice, United States v. Ben-Ami Kadish, Criminal Complaint, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, April 22, 2008
• U.S. Department of Justice Press Release, “New Jersey Man Arrested for Disclosing National Defense Information to Israel,” April 22, 2008
• U.S. Department of Justice Press Release, “Former Army Employee Pleads Guilty to Acting as Israeli Agent,” December 30, 2008
• NBC News / AP, “Ex-Army Engineer Pleads Guilty to Spy Charge,” December 30, 2008
• Al Jazeera, “US Fines Israeli Agent in Spy Case,” May 29, 2009