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Former U.S. Army employee Ben Ami Kadish.
 (Reuters)
Last update - 13:03 30/05/2009
U.S. man evades jail time in 'mysterious' case of spying for Israel
By Reuters
Tags: Ben Ami Kadish, spy, Pollard 

An 85-year-old former civilian employee of the U.S. Army was fined but avoided prison time on Friday after earlier pleading guilty to giving classified documents to Israel in the 1980s, in a case the sentencing judge said was "shrouded in mystery."

Court documents showed that Ben-Ami Kadish, who was fined $50,000 but spared prison time, reported to the same handler as Jonathan Pollard, an American who spied for Israel in the 1980s and triggered a scandal that rocked U.S.-Israeli relations.

"Why it took the government 23 years to charge Mr. Kadish is shrouded in mystery," U.S. District Judge William Pauley said during the sentencing hearing in Manhattan federal court. "It is clear the [U.S.] government could have charged Mr. Kadish with far more serious crimes."
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Kadish pleaded guilty in December to acting as an unregistered agent of Israel. He was arrested in April 2008 on four counts of conspiracy and espionage. The spying charge, dropped under a plea deal, had carried a possible death sentence.

"I am sorry I made a mistake," a frail-looking Kadish said during the sentencing hearing. "I thought I was helping the state of Israel without harming the United States."

The judge said he gave a lenient sentence due to Kadish's age and infirmity, but said Kadish had committed "a grave offense" and had "abused the trust" of the United States. For much of the hearing, Kadish sat slumped in his chair with heavy eyelids. At one stage, he had to be shaken awake by his lawyer.

Prosecutors had recommended no prison time as part of the plea deal. They said between 1980 and 1985 Kadish provided classified documents, including some relating to U.S. missile defense systems, to an Israeli agent, Yosef Yagur, who photographed the documents at Kadish's residence.

Yagur also was Pollard's main Israeli contact. Pollard, a former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to spying for Israel in 1986. Israel gave Pollard citizenship in 1996 and acknowledged he was one of its spies in 1998.

During the hearing, the judge questioned a prosecutor as to why it took so long to charge Kadish when the telephone records on which the case was based were available in the mid-1980s.

"There is no mystery behind it, it's just what happened," said prosecutor Iris Lan, who explained she understood it took the FBI that amount of time to assemble the evidence.

The judge also questioned Kadish's lawyer about how Kadish was able to earn $104,000 in 2007 when he does not work. His lawyer said it was from investments.

Kadish was born in the United States but grew up on a farm in Palestine before the founding of the modern state of Israel. He served in the British and U.S. armies in World War II.

From 1980 to 1985, Yagur asked Kadish to obtain classified documents, which Kadish retrieved from the U.S. Army's Picatinny Arsenal in Dover, New Jersey, according to a sworn statement by Kadish. Kadish said he kept up a friendship with Yagur after 1985.

"While Kadish knew he was aiding Israel, an ally to the United States, he also knew his crime compromised the national security," the judge said.

Related articles:
  • WATCH: Jewish American man arrested on suspicion of spying for Israel
  • 'New spy case won't harm U.S.-Israel ties'
  • Ex-U.S. Army engineer Kadish pleads guilty to spying for Israel
  • ANALYSIS: New espionage affair may be old story, but will greatly damage Israel
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      1.   Compare This to the Holy Land Charity Sentencing 01:01  |  Binyamin 30/05/09
      2.   to Binyamin Abdullah 02:04  |  Fatima 30/05/09
      3.   CIA let Iranian and Chinese Spies Go With Bomb Designs 03:04  |  UsedToPostHere 30/05/09
      4.   Mystery is no US media coverage! 03:05  |  jim the mechanic 30/05/09
      5.   re: Binyamin 03:07  |  UsedToPostHere 30/05/09
      6.   Fatima, Comgress halls filled with Israeli agent 03:26  |  US interests first 30/05/09
      7.   Unbelievable 05:09  |  Westwell 30/05/09
      8.   I`m sure the US has got its money`s worth 05:17  |  ManintheMiddle 30/05/09
      9.   There is no justification for spying against your own country 06:45  |  Dan 30/05/09
      10.   Nice movie script @ #3 07:56  |  RAMIN 30/05/09
      11.   Words for Pollard to Learn: "I am sorry I made a mistake" 07:59  |  binny 30/05/09
      12.   We´re fighting the same enemy 17:11  |  Mongo 30/05/09
      13.   Too lenient on traitors. 18:03  |  Ralph 30/05/09
      14.   he looks 500 years old 19:06  |  felix 30/05/09
      15.   #12 Ralph, It took you americans 65 years to shield 21:36  |  Wondering Mench 30/05/09
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