An Army veteran of World War II who helped invent a target sensing device while working for the service in the 1970s has been arrested for passing secrets to Israel, including information on the Patriot missile system.
Ben-Ami Kadish, 84, of Clifton, N.J., has been charged with conspiring to disclose national defense documents to the Israeli government, conspiring to act as an agent of Israel, conspiring to hinder a communication to an FBI agent and conspiring to make false statements to the agent, according to an April 22 Department of Justice announcement.
According to a Justice Department spokesman, conviction of the first count can carry the death penalty or up to life in prison. Count two carries a maximum of 10 years in jail, count three five years and count four 20 years.
The government alleges Kadish conspired with an Israeli official assigned to the Israeli consulate in Manhattan. Some reports indicate the Israeli "handler" was the same official who served as the contact for convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, a civilian Navy employee who is serving a life sentence for spying for Tel Aviv.
According to the Justice Department, Kadish passed information to the Israeli official at various times between 1979 and 1985 while Kadish worked as a mechanical engineer at the Army's Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center in Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.
The government alleges he brought home documents that he then provided to the Israeli agent, who photographed them. The Israeli handler is not identified in the Justice Department release.
The department alleges one of the classified documents Kadish provided to Israel contained information concerning nuclear weaponry and was classified as “restricted data” -- a specific designation by the U.S. Department of Energy because the document contained atomic-related information.
Another document allegedly passed to his Israeli hander was designated "secret" and contained information on the Patriot missile air defense system, the Justice Department claims.
Kadish was born in born in Connecticut, according to the Justice Department, while a 2006 feature story on him in the New Jersey Jewish News reported that he was raised in Palestine prior to the establishment of the Israeli state. The story also said that he served in both the British and U.S. militaries during World War II.
He later served in the “Haganah,” the Jewish paramilitary group during the British Mandate of Palestine; the Haganah later formed the core of the Israeli Defense Forces.
During the 1970s, Kadish worked for the Army and co-developed and patented a target-sensing device that helped zero-in warhead strikes on a target, according to a U.S. patent dated Dec. 20, 1977.
George Applebaum, a friend of Kadish's in New Jersey and commander of the Jewish War Veterans post they both belonged to, was obviously shocked by the charges made against Kadish.
"He's not a man of violence, he's not like a right-winger or a really radical left-winger," Applebaum told Military.com in a telephone interview. "He was someplace toward the middle of the road. ... He was strident to a certain point, but you wouldn't expect to see a wild-eyed radical 'whatever.' "
Applebaum, 84, said he and Kadish worked many events together at the Jewish War Veterans post, including bringing gifts to wounded troops at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington and visiting hospitalized vets in New Jersey.
"He's very patriotic," Applebaum said. "That's what the shock is -- that somebody is bringing something like [espionage charges] on him. It's shocking and very debilitating."
Applebaum said he "can't question his patriotism" to the United States, and has let Kadish's family know that if there is anything he can do to support them during this time, he'd be happy to help.
US man 'gave secrets to Israel' - Israeli betrayal of the Untied States
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Empi Rapper
