Monroe man allegedly served as spy for Israel

MONROE - A township man stands accused of conspiring to provide documents concerning nuclear weapons to Israel more than 20 years ago, when he worked for the U.S. Army.

Federal authorities arrested Ben-Ami Kadish, 84, last week, saying he acted as a spy for Israel between 1979 and 1985, when he was employed as a mechanical engineer at the Army's Armament, Research, Development and Engineering Center at the Picatinny Arsenal in Dover.

The arsenal kept a library of documents with classified information on national defense matters. On numerous occasions, Kadish borrowed classified documents from the library and took them to his residence, where an Israeli agent would photograph them in the basement, according to information released jointly by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI. The alleged co-conspirator, who was employed from 1980-85 as the consul for science affairs at the Israeli Consulate General's Office in Manhattan, directed Kadish to provide the classified documents to him, authorities said.

One of the documents contained information on nuclear weaponry and was classified by the U.S. Department of Defense as "restricted data." Another document Kadish allegedly provided had information on a modified version of an F-15 fighter jet that the U.S. had sold to another country. That document was classified as "secret" and restricted as "not releasable to foreign nationals." Another

"secret" document that Kadish allegedly borrowed from the arsenal library

had information on a major element of defense strategy - the U.S. Patriot missile air defense system.

Authorities said that on March 20, one month before his arrest, Kadish had a phone conversation with the alleged coconspirator, who instructed Kadish to lie to federal investigators. The following day, during an interview with the FBI, Kadish allegedly denied having that phone conversation.

Kadish was charged on April 22 with one count each of conspiring to disclose documents related to national defense; conspiring to act as an agent of the government of Israel; conspiring to hinder a communication to a law enforcement officer; and conspiring to make a materially false statement to a law enforcement officer.

The ongoing investigation is being coordinated by the U.S. Attorney's Southern District of New York office and the FBI's Newark office, in conjunction with the U.S. Army.

Kadish, a resident of The Ponds retirement community, appeared in a Manhattan federal courtroom April 22, but did not have to enter a plea because he had not been indicted, according to The New York Times. He was released on $300,000 bail after a brief appearance before Magistrate Judge Douglas F. Eaton. Neither Kadish nor his lawyers spoke to reporters outside the courthouse.