Overview

Ari Ben-Menashe is a former Israeli military intelligence officer who became one of the most controversial whistleblowers in intelligence history. Born in Tehran to an Iraqi-Jewish family; he immigrated to Israel as a teenager and served in Israeli Military Intelligence (Aman) from 1977 to 1987. He claimed direct involvement in Israel's role brokering the 1980 October Surprise deal; alleging that the Reagan campaign conspired with Iran to delay the release of American hostages until after the presidential election to undermine Jimmy Carter. He also alleged that Israel was deeply involved in the Iran-Contra arms sales and that Robert Maxwell; the British media mogul; was a longtime Mossad asset. Ben-Menashe was arrested in the U.S. in 1989 on charges of illegally attempting to sell C-130 transport aircraft to Iran; but was acquitted after convincing a jury he had acted on behalf of the Israeli government. Israel initially denied any connection to him but evidence later surfaced confirming his intelligence service. He became an international lobbyist; representing Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe and other controversial clients; and claimed that Jeffrey Epstein was connected to Israeli intelligence operations; specifically alleging Epstein was recruited by Israeli military intelligence to compromise powerful individuals for blackmail purposes.

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Controversies & Concerns

Related Investigations (1)

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Sources & Documentation

1 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports