Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan admits double life as Israeli spy

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Hollywood mega-producer reveals double life as Israeli spy

William La Jeunesse reports from Los Angeles

JERUSALEM – Stories about Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan's alleged double life have been circulating for years.

Now, the Israeli-born businessman behind hits like "Pretty Woman," "Fight Club" and "L.A. Confidential" has finally come forth with a  stunning admission -- for years he served as an Israeli spy, buying arms on its behalf and boosting its alleged nuclear program.

In a far-reaching interview aired Monday with Israel's Channel 2 TV's flagship investigative program "Uvda," Milchan detailed a series of clandestine affairs in which he was involved and particularly how he helped purchase technologies Israel allegedly needed to operate nuclear bombs.

"I did it for my country and I'm proud of it," said Milchan, who ran a successful fertilizer company in Israel before making it big in Hollywood.

Even there, he says he continued with his clandestine work while maintaining close ties with Israel's leadership.

The admission confirms what was first reported by authors Joseph Gelman and Meir Doron in the 2011 book, "Confidential, The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan" in which they detail how the Hollywood producer was recruited to the highly sensitive Bureau of Science Liaison’ (also known by the Hebrew acronym LAKAM) in the 1960’s by Israel’s current President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Shimon Peres. The LAKAM’s mission was to secure nuclear material and
technology for Israel’s clandestine nuclear weapons program “by any means necessary”. Milchan was described in the book as the “Chuck Norris” of the Bureau, and its most productive and daring secret agent.

The bureau was disbanded in 1987 after it was implicated in the spying affair for which Jonathan Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy, was sentenced to life in prison.

Milchan also says other big Hollywood names were connected to his covert affairs.

"When I came to Hollywood I detached myself completely from my physical activities to dedicate myself to what I really wanted -- filmmaking," he said. "(But) sometimes it gets mixed up."

The 68-year-old Milchan owns New Regency Films and has produced more than 120 movies since the 1970s, working closely with directors such as Martin Scorsese, Roman Polanski, Sergio Leone and Oliver Stone. He forged an especially close relationship with Robert De Niro, who along with actors Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck, is featured in Uvda's broadcast.

"I had heard but I wasn't sure," De Niro said, of Milchan's activities. "I did ask him once and he told me that he was an Israeli and of course he would do these things for his country."

The Associated Press contributed reporting to this story.