The veil of secrecy has been lifted on an Israeli spy already serving a prison term for spying for the former Soviet Union.
Taking the unusual step of making details about an espionage case available to the Israeli public, the Tel Aviv District Court announced Sunday that Samuel Machtay, 46, a former Israel Aircraft Industries engineer, had been sentenced to seven years in prison in May 1991 on espionage charges.
But only limited details of his offense and trial were disclosed.
Publication of the incident was forbidden until this week “for reasons of state security,” according to the court.
Reminder: The JTA Daily News Bulletin will not be published on Friday, Sept. 17.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
