Reply #18: Ex-prosecutor: New arrest shows reach of 1980s spy ring

[Scurrilous]

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"New charges that an Army veteran passed military secrets to the same Israeli handler as convicted spy Jonathan Pollard confirms the espionage ring reached further than initially thought, and that the Israelis lied about it, a former prosecutor said Wednesday.

"The similarities are quite eerie," said Joseph E. diGenova, who as U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia oversaw the 1980s-era Pentagon spy scandal that ensnared Pollard, an ex-Navy analyst serving a life sentence for revealing defense secrets to Israel.

A criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court "clearly indicates there were other Americans being asked at other military installations to do the same things the same way," diGenova said. "This was a much larger espionage operation ... than we understood or could have known at the time."

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"The link between Pollard and Kadish is a now-defunct Israeli intelligence agency known as the Scientific Relations Office, Israeli intelligence expert Yossi Melman said Wednesday. The office was run by Rafi Eitan, a former agent with Israel's Mossad spy agency who is now an Israeli Cabinet minister.

According to court documents, Kadish and Pollard shared the same handler — Yosef Yagur, who Melman said is now retired and living in Tel Aviv. His telephone number is unlisted.

During the period outlined in the complaint against Kadish, Yagur was working in the Israeli consulate in Manhattan.

"For years, Israel was involved in technological espionage in the U.S.," Melman said. "Kadish and Pollard were not the only ones."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h002o_ai2v68s57ia6xLKXf-GZ5AD907R8DG0