Spyfail, p.58
Spyfail, page 58
16 “They have this vast network of sympathizers”: Interview of Glenn R. Cella by the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, July 18, 2006, https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Cella.Glenn.pdf.
17 “more active than anyone but the KGB”: Charles R. Babcock, “U.S. an Intelligence Target of the Israeli, Officials Say,” Washington Post, June 5, 1986, www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/06/05/us-an-intelligence-target-of-the-israelis-officials-say/80e52393-3b43-4a5a-8d5d-ce4fd2bf0532/.
18 Raymond Wannal: David K. Shipler, “U.S.-Israel Relationship Makes Keeping Secrets Hard,” New York Times, December 22, 1985, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1985/12/22/243812.html?pageNumber=1.
19 “Foreign Intelligence and Security Services”: SECRET, NOFORN, NOCONTRACT, ORCON, “Israel: Foreign Intelligence and Security Services,” CIA, March 1979, https://ia601909.us.archive.org/29/items/israel-foreign-intelligence-and-security-services/EBB-PollardDoc1.pdf.
20 “had a handwritten note literally from [the] president”: Statement of Jessica Mathews, “Revisiting the 1979 VELA Mystery: A Report on a Critical Oral History Conference,” Wilson Center, Washington, DC, www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/revisiting-1979-vela-mystery-report-critical-oral-history-conference.
21 “Who shut off the investigations?”: Hadden, Conversations with a Masked Man, p. 238.
22 “As reported in the paper”: Bullock, Diary of a Cold War Patriot, p. 163.
23 Among the victims is Patty Ameno; $80 million: John R. Emshwiller, “Waste Land: One Town’s Atomic Legacy: A $500 Million Cleanup,” Wall Street Journal, November 22, 2013, www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304868404579194231922830904.
24 about 40 percent of the claimants had died: Michael Yates, “Poisoning People in Apollo,” Counterpunch, May 23, 2012, www.counterpunch.org/2012/05/23/poisoning-people-in-apollo/.
25 “a widely held attitude among Israeli officials”: Wolf Blitzer, Territory of Lies: The Exclusive Story of Jonathan Jay Pollard: The American Who Spied on His Country for Israel and How He Was Betrayed (New York: Harper & Row, 1989), p. 280.
26 previously served as the editor: Wolf Blitzer, Jewish Virtual Library, www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/wolf-blitzer.
27 “continued to lose money”: Unless otherwise indicated, comments from Emilie Smyth are from Family History of a Successful Aerospace Executive: A Story Related by Jon Schiller, PhD. The self-published book was written by Emilie about her family life with her husband, Richard Kelly Smyth, using his alias “Jon Schiller.”
28 “Arnon Milchan [had] requested”: Charles R. Babcock, “Computer Expert Used Firm to Feed Israel Technology,” Washington Post, October 31, 1986, www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/10/31/computer-expert-used-firm-to-feed-israel-technology/dac7f8f5-560c-4f42-8b8a-c03892ae1140/.
29 “I thought we ought to face up to the fact”: Seymour M. Hersh, Sampson Option: Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy (New York: Random House, 1991), p. 213.
30 “Anything that was seen as even remotely critical”: Interview of Glenn R. Cella by the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, July 18, 2006, https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Cella.Glenn.pdf.
31 “Do you think there’s any chance”: Interview of Glenn R. Cella.
Chapter 16: The Pitch
1 “Hope to receive delivery schedule this week”: Department of the Treasury, U.S. Customs Service, Report of Investigation, March 21, 1985, “Illegal Export of Munitions Items to Israel.” Hereafter cited as Customs Service Investigation Reports. Telex from Ernest P. Smyth to Milchan, re: PINTO (the code name for krytrons), October 1, 1979.
2 a truck from Overseas Airfreight: Customs Service Investigation Reports, telex from Ernest P. Smyth to Overseas Airfreight re: “Authorization to ship our package Air Freight Collect to Israel,” January 7, 1980.
3 “Anyone who lives in California is a star-fucker”: Milchan interview on Uvda (Israeli television program, in Hebrew), November 25, 2013.
4 Biehl worked alongside Edward Teller: Biography of Ernest O. Lawrence, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, www.llnl.gov/ernest-o-lawrence-co-founder. See also Herbert York, The Advisors: Oppenheimer, Teller and the Superbomb (San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1976), p. 133.
5 due to his position on the: See “Hearing Record of the Public Hearing on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Livermore Site, Livermore, California,” April 12, 1979, www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2015/05/f22/EIS-0028-Record_of_Public_Hearing_on_the_DEIS_April_1979.pdf.
6 Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff: “History of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff: Background and Preparation of SIOP-62,” Top Secret, Headquarters, Strategic Air Command. See also Army War College, “Strategic Target Planning and the JSTPS,” March 1988, https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA195083.pdf.
7 Dr. Ivan Getting: See U.S. Space Force and National Academies biographies: www.afspc.af.mil/Portals/3/documents/Pioneers/1998_Getting.pdf, https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/12473/chapter/22.
8 Robert Mainhardt: John Spangler, “MBA Gyrojet Mark I Model B Pistols and Carbines: Rocket Science Meets Reality,” American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin, undated.
9 “He’s maybe the third most powerful man in Israel”: William E. Burrows and Robert Windrem, Critical Mass: The Dangerous Race for Superweapons in a Fragmenting World (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994), p. 462.
10 “That’s it for me”: Burrows and Windrem, Critical Mass, p. 463.
11 “I never even saw Sharon”: Sara Leibowitz-Dar, “LAKAM Chief Benjamin Blumberg Tells His Story,” Ma’ariv (in Hebrew), April 7, 2012.
12 “For years I worked for the country”: Leibowitz-Dar, “LAKAM Chief Benjamin Blumberg Tells His Story.”
BOOK FOUR: THE SMUGGLERS
Chapter 17: Escape
1 “Richard thought the robbery was espionage”: Unless otherwise indicated, comments from Emilie Smyth are from Family History of a Successful Aerospace Executive: A Story Related by Jon Schiller, PhD. The self-published book was written by Emilie about her family life with her husband, Richard Kelly Smyth, using his alias “Jon Schiller.”
2 “There is this movie that I have been working on”: Meir Doron and Joseph Gelman, Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan (Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House, 2011), p. 153.
3 “People that I talked to said”: Jack Mathews, The Battle of Brazil (New York: Crown, 1987), p. 15.
4 “In Hollywood they don’t like working with an arms dealer”: Stuart Winer, “Hollywood Producer Arnon Milchan Reveals Past as Secret Agent,” Times of Israel, November 25, 2013, www.timesofisrael.com/hollywood-producer-arnon-milchan-reveals-mossad-past/.
5 “Officially [Rosen] was Israel’s ambassador”: Ben Caspit, The Netanyahu Years (New York: Thomas Dunne, 2017), pp. 64–65.
6 “I was stunned and dismayed”: Unless otherwise indicated, comments from Richard Kelly Smyth are from his self-published book, Irrational Indictment & Imprisonment for Exporting Krytrons to Israel, 2008, using his alias “Dr. Jon Schiller.”
7 “Richard did not think Fahey had a ‘right to know’”; “continued to lose money in spite of all Richard’s efforts”: Emily Smyth, Family History of a Successful Aerospace Executive.
8 a secret grand jury was empaneled: John M. Goshko, “Israel Got U.S.-Made Devices,” Washington Post, May 14, 1985.
9 “The first time I heard the word ‘krytron’”: Thomas L. Friedman, “Israelis Deny Knowing of Export Bar for Device Usable in A-Bomb,” New York Times, May 18, 1985, www.nytimes.com/1985/05/18/world/israelis-deny-knowing-of-export-bar-for-device-usable-in-a-bomb.html.
10 “I’m asking for your help”: Meir Doron and Joseph Gelman, Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan (Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House, 2011), p. 17.
11 Milchan would later donate large sums of money: Gidi Weitz, “‘You Can’t Meet with the Netanyahus Empty-Handed. There Is No Such Thing,” Haaretz, July 5, 2022, www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-07-05/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/you-cant-meet-with-the-netanyahus-empty-handed-there-is-no-such-thing/00000181-ce46-dc67-adab-cfc759600000.
12 “The U.S. government was prosecuting me”: Richard Kelly Smyth (a.k.a. Schiller), Irrational Indictment & Imprisonment for Exporting Krytrons to Israel.
13 “Israel was not aware of any ban”: Friedman, “Israelis Deny Knowing of Export Bar.”
14 “I don’t know what the fuck this thing is”: Unless otherwise indicated, details on Gilliam and Brazil are from Mathews, The Battle of Brazil, p. 36.
15 “Frankly, we are in a limbo situation”: Jane Applegate, “Accused Engineer Fails to Appear at Nuclear Device Trial,” Los Angeles Times, August 21, 1985, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-21-me-1095-story.html.
16 “This is a nightmare”; “Sources close to the case”: Applegate, “Accused Engineer Fails to Appear at Nuclear Device Trial.”
17 “Tell my mother I’m safe”: Jane Applegate, “Brief but to the Point: ‘Tell Her I’m Safe,’” Los Angeles Times, October 21, 1985.
18 $9.9 million at the box office: Box Office Mojo, Brazil, December 20, 1985, www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3360065025/weekend/.
19 “No one has asserted that Mr. Milchan”: Mathews, The Battle of Brazil, p. 92.
20 “Arnon has to screw everyone”: Ann Louise Bardach, “The Last Tycoon,” Los Angeles magazine, April 2000, www.lamag.com/longform/the-last-tycoon/.
21 “You just never know”: Andrew Yule, Losing the Light: Terry Gilliam and the Munchausen Saga (New York: Applause Books, 1991), p. 62.
Chapter 18: Deceit
1 could fill a six-by-ten-foot room: Top Secret Umbra, United States of America v. Jonathan Jay Pollard, Declaration of the Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger, January 8, 1987, p. 5.
2 “no drastic action would be taken against you”: Top Secret Umbra, Director of Central Intelligence, “The Jonathan Jay Pollard Espionage Case: A Damage Assessment,” October 30, 1987.
3 “Rafi just kept blowing me off”: Elliot Goldenberg, The Spy Who Knew Too Much: The Government Plot to Silence Jonathan Pollard (New York: S.P.I. Books, 1993), p. 101.
4 Washington Hospital Center: It is now MedStar Washington Hospital Center.
5 “As we drove up Wisconsin Avenue”: Goldenberg, The Spy Who Knew Too Much, p. 119.
6 “A diplomatic vehicle was going into the compound”: Noltkamper testimony, U.S. v. Anne Henderson Pollard, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, November 27, 1985.
7 “I immediately said, ‘Throw him out’”: “Former Mossad Handler: Pollard Rejected Escape Plan,” Jerusalem Post, December 2, 2014, www.jpost.com/israel-news/former-mossad-handler-pollard-rejected-escape-plan-383418.
8 “This is where the knife really went deep”: “Pollard’s Ex-wife: I Still Don’t Understand Why He Divorced Me,” Times of Jerusalem, November 20, 2015, www.timesofisrael.com/pollards-ex-wife-i-dont-understand-why-we-divorced/.
9 “Any country that could do this to a loyal agent”: Wolf Blitzer, Territory of Lies: The Exclusive Story of Jonathan Jay Pollard: The American Who Spied on His Country for Israel and How He Was Betrayed (New York: Harper & Row, 1989), pp. 213, 218.
10 In 2020, 116 fugitives were arrested: “The Costa del Sol, the Hideout of the Fugitives: Why Do Murderers and Drug Traffickers Live There?,” Tekdeeps, December 30, 2020, https://tekdeeps.com/the-costa-del-sol-the-hideout-of-the-fugitives-why-do-murderers-and-drug-traffickers-live-there/.
11 Attending the Deauville American Film Festival: “El Festival de Cine de Deauville, Francia,” El Nuevo Herald, September 6, 1987.
12 Man on Fire flamed out at the box office: Caryn James of the New York Times said that the film “always seems about to slip into unconsciousness.” James, “Film: Scott Glenn in ‘Man on Fire,’ Thriller,” New York Times, October 10, 1987, www.nytimes.com/1987/10/10/movies/film-scott-glenn-in-man-on-fire-thriller.html. And Lloyd Sachs of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, “Unfortunately, when it’s required to make sense, ‘Man on Fire’ doesn’t.” Sachs, “‘Man on Fire’ Disintegrates on Film,” Chicago Sun-Times, October 27, 1987.
13 $87 million in the United States and $160 million worldwide: Box Office Mojo, The War of the Roses, February 23, 1989, www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0098621/.
14 “This should be the title of the movie”: Marvin R. Shanken, “An Interview with Arnon Milchan,” Cigar Aficionado, September/October 2008, www.cigaraficionado.com/article/an-interview-with-arnon-milchan-6231.
15 grossing $178,406,268: Box Office Mojo, Pretty Woman, October 12, 1990, www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0100405/.
16 Mitzpe Yam Street in Beit Yanai: Shuki Sadeh, “Yes, It’s Public Space, Just Don’t Tell the Public About It,” Haaretz, September 24, 2020, https://mideastenvironment.apps01.yorku.ca/2020/09/yes-its-public-space-just-dont-tell-the-public-about-it-haaretz/.
17 spent another $3.5 million: Shuki Sadeh and Hagai Amit, “How Hollywood Mogul Arnon Milchan Uses His Benjamins to Influence Israeli Politics,” Haaretz, February 13, 2017, www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-how-hollywood-mogul-uses-his-benjamins-to-influence-israeli-politics-1.5432261.
18 Milchan put the woman in touch: Chaim Levinson, “How Mossad Chief Got Arnon Milchan to Boost Music Career of Oligarch’s Daughter,” Haaretz, February 13, 2019, www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-how-ex-mossad-chief-enlisted-hollywood-mogul-to-help-putin-associate-1.6934148.
19 a member of Cohen’s inner circle: “Report: Israel Police Investigating Mossad Chief’s Ties with Netanyahu’s Billionaire Friend,” Haaretz, January 18, 2017, www.haaretz.com/israel-news/report-police-probing-mossad-chief-s-ties-with-milchan-1.5487388.
20 “We did a few operations together”: Gidi Weitz, “How a Drunk, Unstable Billionaire Became Netanyahu and Mossad Chief’s Confidant,” Haaretz, April 29, 2021, www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT.MAGAZINE-unstable-billionaire-james-packer-netanyahu-mossad-chief-s-confidant-1.9759071.
21 “To: Arnon Milchan, Big Time Movie Producer”: Richard Kelly Smyth (a.k.a. Schiller), Irrational Indictment & Imprisonment for Exporting Krytrons to Israel, pp. 78–80.
Chapter 19: The Fix
1 “young, slim, good-looking”: Andrew Yule, Losing the Light: Terry Gilliam and the Munchausen Saga (New York: Applause Books, 1991), p. 38.
2 Ilana Dayan: See her appearance on JN1 (Jewish News 1), Tel Aviv, November 26, 2013. See also David Caspi, “Arnon Milchan Admits to Arms Dealing in the ’70s: The New Regency chairman and veteran producer tells the Israeli investigative program ‘Uvda’ that he and others, including Sydney Pollack, secretly assisted the government,” Hollywood Reporter, November 21, 2013, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/arnon-milchan-admits-arms-dealing-658717/. Allison Kaplan Sommer, “Hollywood Producer Open Up About Past as Israeli Operative,” Haaretz, November 26, 2013, www.haaretz.com/.premium-arnon-milchan-secret-agent-1.5294466.
3 “Then began a series of emotional calls”: Nir Hasson, “Milchan Begged Netanyahu for Help, Former Aide Testifies. Within Days, He Got a U.S. Visa,” Haaretz, July 6, 2022, www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-07-06/ty-article/.highlight/netanyahu-trial-witness-describes-orderly-mechanism-for-gifts-as-testimony-continues/00000181-d355-d974-afbd-ff57433c0000.
4 “He asked me to reach out to Dan Shapiro”: Jeremy Sharon, “Milchan Aide Testifies Netanyahu Introduced Her Boss to Kerry to Help Him Get Visa,” Times of Israel, July 6, 2022, www.timesofisrael.com/milchan-aide-testifies-netanyahu-introduced-her-boss-to-kerry-to-help-him-get-visa/.
5 “Why is Arnon so worried?”: Hasson, “Milchan Begged Netanyahu for Help.”
6 “very agitated”: Gidi Weitz, “Netanyahu Graft Affair: Israel Police Wanted to Question Kerry and Ex-U.S. Envoy but Were Blocked by AG,” Haaretz, February 23, 2017, www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2017-02-23/ty-article/.premium/israeli-ag-blocked-plan-to-question-kerry-shapiro-in-netanyahu-graft-affair/0000017f-e5f4-df5f-a17f-fffe6ea60000.
7 “If the Netanyahu couple arrives”: Chen Maanit, “Sara Netanyahu Asked Me to Sign a Friendship Affidavit, Billionaires’ Aide Tells Court,” Haaretz, July 12, 2022, www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-07-12/ty-article/.premium/cross-examination-of-hollywood-moguls-assistant-begins/00000181-f11f-db6b-a5a7-f9ffd3270000.
8 “Am I at the Oscars?”: Alex Ben Block, “Inside the Hollywood Scandal That Looms over Israel’s Election,” Los Angeles magazine, April 9, 2019, www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/netanyahu-israel-election-arnon-milchan/.
9 Unhelpful was his habit of guzzling bottles of vodka: Damon Kitney, “Warren Beatty and Me: The Inside Story of James Packer’s Breakdown,” The Australian, October 6, 2018, www.theaustralian.com.au/weekend-australian-magazine/warren-beatty-and-me-the-inside-story-of-james-packers-breakdown/news-story/c837f9323e436a58%E2%80%A6.
10 “a kind of convenience in moving from house to house”: Gidi Weitz, “How a Drunk, Unstable Billionaire Became Netanyahu and Mossad Chief’s Confidant,” Haaretz, April 29, 2021, www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT.MAGAZINE-unstable-billionaire-james-packer-netanyahu-mossad-chief-s-confidant-1.9759071.
11 “I was a political cadaver”: Gidi Weitz, “‘Mr. Prime Minister, Do You Believe What You’re Saying? It’s Embarrassing’: The Netanyahu Interrogation Transcripts,” Haaretz, September 26, 2020, www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT.MAGAZINE-do-you-believe-what-you-re-saying-the-netanyahu-interrogation-transcripts-1.9184340.
12 “Bibi personally tells me everything”: Michael Bachner, “Netanyahu Allegedly Leaked Info on Iran to Hollywood Mogul Arnon Milchan,” Times of Israel, November 10, 2020, www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-allegedly-leaked-info-on-iran-to-hollywood-mogul-arnon-milchan/.
