Arnon Milchan
 Arnon Milchan    (spook, billionaire) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 6 December 1944 |
| Alma mater | London School of Economics |
Arnon Milchan is an Israeli/American billionaire businessman and film producer living in Tel Aviv. He has been involved in over 130 full-length motion pictures and founded the production company Regency Enterprises.[1]
In the mid-1960s, Arnon Milchan was recruited to Lekem, a secret Israeli intelligence agency which sought to obtain technology and material for developing Israel's nuclear weapons program.[2]
Contents
Intelligence operative
Speculation about Arnon Milchan's involvement in arms dealing and intelligence activities was sparked after the indictment in 1985 of Dr Richard Kelly Smyth, an aerospace executive and scientist who had made illegal shipments of Krytrons, which could be used as nuclear weapon triggers, through one of Milchan's companies, MILCO.[3]
'Confidential' biography
This remained largely in the category of rumour until biographers Meir Doron and Joseph Gelman wrote a controversial unauthorised biography of Milchan that was published in July 2011. The biography "Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan" revealed in detail how Milchan involved himself in espionage, big-ticket arms-dealing, and obtaining sensitive technology and materials for Israel's nuclear weapons program. The biography established that "at least through the mid-1980s [Milchan] was a full-fledged operative for Israel's top-secret intelligence agency, Lekem. His activities included "buying components to build and maintain Israel's nuclear arsenal" and supervising "government-backed accounts and front companies that financed the special needs of the entirety of Israel's intelligence operations outside the country".
Recruited by Peres
Interviewed regarding Milchan's intelligence activities, former Israeli President Shimon Peres, the architect of Israel's secret nuclear weapons program in the 1960s, stated that he recruited Milchan to work for the Israeli Bureau of Scientific Relations:
- "Arnon Milchan is a special man. It was I who recruited him.... When I was at the Ministry of Defence, Arnon was involved in numerous defence-related procurement activities and intelligence operations. His strength is in making connections at the highest levels.... His activities gave us a huge advantage, strategically, diplomatically and technologically."[4]
Uranium from Rössing
Two years later, on 25 November 2013, on Israel's Channel 2 documentary program Uvda, Milchan confirmed on camera the central claims in the "Confidential" biography and claimed to have used his connections to promote the apartheid regime in South Africa in exchange for Israel's acquiring Uranium from Namibia for its nuclear program.[5]
References
- ↑ "The world's 50 Richest Jews: 41-50"
- ↑ "Hollywood Producer Was an Israeli Nuclear Agent"
- ↑ "800 Nuclear Triggers Smuggled to Israel, Mastermind Untouchable - Secret FBI Files"
- ↑ "Interview dated 8 February 2010, documented in Meir Doron and Joseph Gelman's 'Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan' p. xi"
- ↑ "Arnon Milchan reveals past as Israeli spy"
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