Israel Spies on America (Again)

“This offense is a grave one that implicates the national security of the United States,” Judge Pauley said, adding, “Why it took the government 23 years to charge Mr. Kadish is shrouded in mystery.”

He also wondered why Mr. Kadish had been allowed to plead guilty to a single charge that seemed to understate the seriousness of his crime.

“It’s clear,” Judge Pauley said, “that the government could have charged Mr. Kadish with far more serious crimes.”

At one point, Judge Pauley questioned a prosecutor about the 23-year “hiatus,” as he put it, in the bringing of charges.

The prosecutor, Iris Lan, said that it was not until last year that the F.B.I. had been able to “put all the pieces together.”

“There’s no mystery behind it,” Ms. Lan said. “It’s just what happened.”

“It’s a mystery to me,” Judge Pauley said tartly. “I’m wondering what happened.”

Hey judge, wake up and smell the coffee. This is Israel we are talking about. Spying for that country is never a big deal. The Obama justice department recently decided to drop the prosecution of two AIPAC staffers, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, who gave defense department documents to Israel. The Attorney General concluded that no crime had been committed. That's funny, a pentagon employee named Larry Franklin was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in jail for providing documents to the two men. Not to worry about Franklin, he isn't in jail. It wouldn't look good for him to be behind bars when Rosen and Weissman still walk the streets. Whatever.

The spy in this case, Ben-Ami Kadish, plead guilty to not registering as a foreign agent, paid a $50,000 fine and walked out of court a free man. He was a civilian employee of the U.S. army and gave documents to Israeli agents in the early 1980s. He says he wasn't paid for his services, but when the judge demanded the fine be paid within 60 days, Kadish replied, "No problem."