WASHINGTON (JTA) — The United States is banning the entry of a former Mossad chief because of his alleged involvement in Pentagon leaks.
Uzi Arad, who led the Israeli spy agency in the 1990s, has not been allowed to enter the country since 2007, the Washington Times reported Tuesday.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister-designate, is believed to want to name Arad as his national security adviser, and the Times reported that "prominent" Israeli and American figures have been making Arad’s case to no avail.
The Times said Arad is the former senior Israeli intelligence official named in the 2005 indictment charging former Pentagon Iran analyst Larry Franklin with leaking classified information.
The indictment described two meetings between Franklin and Arad. Franklin pleaded guilty in 2006 and was sentenced to 12 years in prison, although he has yet to serve time.
His alleged meetings with Arad are not related to other parts of his indictment charging him with leaking information to two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee who face trial for receiving the information.
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