http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6380288/Top-
US-scientist-accused-of-trying-to-spy-for-Israel.html

Top US scientist accused of trying to spy for Israel
A top American scientist who once worked for the Pentagon and Nasa was
arrested on Monday night, accused of trying to spy for Israel.


By Toby Harnden in Washington
Published: 11:57PM BST 19 Oct 2009
Dr. Stewart Nozette: Top US scientist accused of trying to spy for
Israel
Dr. Stewart Nozette at a press conference at the Pentagon in 1996 Photo:
AFP

Stewart Nozette, 52, developed an experiment that fuelled the discovery
of water on the south pole of the moon, and held a special security
clearance at the United States Department of Energy on atomic materials.

He has been charged with "attempted espionage for knowingly and wilfully
attempting to communicate, deliver and transmit classified information
relating to the national defence of the US to an individual that Nozette
believed to be an Israeli intelligence officer," the US Department of
Justice said.

But the person Mr Nozette believed to be an Israeli intelligence officer
was in fact an undercover FBI agent in a sting operation, the department
said. The US government said there had been no breach of protocol by
Israel, which has agreed not to spy on its ally.

The 1985 arrest of Jonathan Pollard, a US civilian intelligence analyst
at the Pentagon, and his subsequent conviction for spying for Israel,
seriously strained US-Israeli relations. After his conviction, he was
granted Israeli citizenship and his release is a perennial Israeli
demand.

The Justice Department said: "From 1989 to 2006, Nozette held security
clearances as high as top secret and had regular, frequent access to
classified information and documents related to the US national
defence."

According to the department, in early September Mr Nozette received a
phone call from a person "purporting to be an Israeli intelligence
officer, but who was in fact an undercover employee of the FBI". The
sting was conducted after Mr Nozette took what the FBI perceived to be a
suspicious trip abroad.

Mr Nozette "discussed his willingness to work for Israeli intelligence"
and offered to "answer questions in exchange for money".

He was then given money in exchange for answers to lists of questions
about American satellite technology.

The FBI retrieved a manila envelope left by Mr Nozette in a post office
box this month. It "contained information classified as both top secret
and secret that concerned US satellites, early warning systems, means of
defence or retaliation against large-scale attack, communications
intelligence information, and major elements of defence strategy".

During a meeting in a bugged Washington hotel room, Mr Nozette is
alleged to have said he wanted to receive cash amounts "under $10,000"
to keep him from reporting it to the authorities.

At the end of the meeting, he allegedly told the undercover FBI agent:
"Well I should tell you my first need is that they should figure out how
to pay me . they don't expect me to do this for free."

The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Mr Nozette
stopped working for the US government in 2006.

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