The United States arrested an 84-year-old American on Tuesday suspected of giving Israel secrets on nuclear weapons, fighter jets and missiles in the 1980s, in a case linked to the Jonathan Pollard spy scandal that rocked U.S.-Israeli relations.
The arrest of Ben-Ami Kadish indicates that Israeli spying revealed by the Pollard case, still an irritant to the U.S. alliance with Israel, may have spread wider than previously acknowledged.
"It was bigger than we thought, and they hid it well," said former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova, who prosecuted Pollard.
Kadish acknowledged his spying in FBI interviews and said he acted to help Israel, according to court documents.
He was accused of reporting to an Israeli government handler who was also a main contact for Pollard, an American citizen serving a life term on a 1985 charge of spying for Israel.
State Department spokesman Tom Casey said, "We will be informing the Israelis of this action ... 20-plus years ago during the Pollard case we noted that this was not the kind of behaviour we would expect from friends and allies, and that would remain the case today."
Authorities said Kadish was arrested in New Jersey on four counts of conspiracy and espionage after an investigation that began in 2005. The first spy charge carries a possible death sentence.
Kadish made an initial appearance at Manhattan federal court. Looking frail and shuffling, Kadish smiled briefly at the judge who ordered his release on $300,000 bail and restricted his travel.
Kadish did not speak, and his lawyer made no comment upon leaving.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said of the arrest: "We know nothing about it. We heard it from the media."
Pollard pleaded guilty in 1986. Israel gave him citizenship in 1996 and acknowledged in 1998 the former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst was one of its spies. Israel has unsuccessfully sought Pollard's release.
