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US citizen charged with providing nuclear secrets to Israel

Other News Materials 23 April 2008 00:24 (UTC +04:00)

A US citizen has been charged with providing nuclear and other military secrets to Israel during the 1980s, US authorities announced Tuesday in New York. ( dpa )

The US Justice Department alleges that Ben-Ami Kadish conspired to pass along classified documents to an Israeli official and acted as an agent of the Israeli government.

Kadish, a mechanical engineer, allegedly provided the Israelis with information about nuclear weaponry, a modified version of an F- 15 fighter jet and the Patriot missile-defence system.

Kadish, while working from 1979-1985 at the US Army's Armament Research, Development and Engineering Centre in Dover, New Jersey, was able to access the documents at the facility's library, the justice official said.

Kadish removed the documents from the library and took them to his home, where an official from the Israeli consulate in Manhattan would meet Kadish and photograph the documents in his basement.

The justice department did not name the Israeli official, who worked as the consul for science affairs at the consulate from 1980 to 1985 and directed Kadish's spying activities.

Kadish was due to appear in court later Tuesday facing four counts, including conspiracy to disclose US national defence documents, acting as an agent of the Israeli government, hindering communication to a law enforcement officer, and making false statements.

The justice department said that on March 8, Kadish spoke with his Israeli handler, who instructed Kadish to lie to federal authorities. The following day during an interrogation, Kadish denied having a phone conversation with the Israeli, the department said.

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