Arnon Milchan Attends Netanyahu's Historic Congressional Speech

Arnon Milchan, a central player in the development of Israel's nuclear program, was a VIP guest, seated in the gallery of the US House of Representatives as Prime Minister Netanyahu delivered his historic speech to a Joint Session of Congress about the dangers of the Iranian nuclear program. Mr. Milchan was seated between Australian billionaire James Packer and Warner Brothers Executive Gary Ginsberg. The owner of the the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft, and former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Anzar were seated in the same row, just behind the guest of honor, Nobel Peace Laureate, Eli Wiesel... who was flanked by Sarah Netanyahu and Alan Dershowitz.

Fox News on the Milchan Story: "This is a Movie in Itself!"

"Hollywood producer by day, Israeli spy by night.
This is a movie in itself!"

CBS News: A Jaw-Dropping Interview as CBS News Talks With 'Confidential' Co-Author Meir Doron

"A new tail of international intrigue is coming to light...."

NBC Nightly News Airs Powerful Segment on 'Confidential' - Millions Tune In

"A movie tycoon whose life story itself is a Hollywood movie,

with him in the staring role!" - Andrea Mitchell, NBC News

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Based on the Book 'Confidential': The Full Israel Channel 2 Milchan Documentary - No Translation But Fully Understandable:

Note: Channel 2 gave full credit to the authors at the end of the live broadcast,
but seem to have cut the credit on their web post of the broadcast.  

TOTAL VINDICATION - AP: Hollywood's Arnon Milchan Says He Was A Spy

                                                         WORLDWIDE COVERAGE

By ARON HELLER Associated Press

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

 

Now, the Israeli 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.

 

According to an unauthorized biography published two years ago, Milchan worked for Israel's now-defunct Bureau of Scientific Relations, known as Lekem, which worked to obtain information for secret defense programs. 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 founded the New Regency film company 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."

Hollywood Reporter: Milchan Confirms the Claims in 'Confidential'

VINDICATION FOR THE AUTHORS:
Milchan's secret has long been rumored and was the subject of a 2011 book by Meir Doron and Joseph Gelman called Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan, which examined his recruitment by longtime politician and current Israeli president Shimon Peres back in the 1960s. Milchan was selected then as a liaison for the secretive Bureau of Scientific Relations, Lekem, which was founded to obtain technology and material for Israel's nuclear program. Over the years, the 68-year-old Milchan handled clandestine deals involving Israeli military acquisitions, and promoted Israeli's nuclear project. Getting Milchan to finally confess in detail in front of a camera was not an easy task, reveals Ilana Dayan, an investigative journalist and the host of Uvda, which opens its 20th season Monday night on Channel 2's Keshet Broadcasting with the Milchan story. Read the entire article here.

Ha'aretz: Hollywood is Always on the Lookout for Blockbuster Stories, and This Coming Monday it will get the Juicy Details

Although this is the first time that Milchan has spoken about the subject since the publication of 'Confidential'....

This isn’t the first time Milchan's role in Israeli arms dealings and intelligence has surfaced: Just two years ago authors Meir Doron and Joseph Gelman published a book titled “Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan" – which alleged that Milchan was an operative for Israel's Bureau of Scientific Relations. The bureau, headed by spy-masters Benjamin Blumberg and Rafi Eitan, gathered information for secret defense-related programs, including Israel's alleged nuclear program. The bureau was closed after Jonathan Pollard was arrested for spying on behalf of Israel in 1986.

The "Uvda" report does, however, contain some shocking new details about Milchan's work, including claims that other Hollywood bigwigs like the legendary, late director Sydney Pollack and at least one other Academy Award-winning actor, both figured into his work for Israel.

Based on The Book 'Confidential', Israel's Channel 2 Delivers an Explosive Investigative Report on the Life of Arnon Milchan in Prime Time

Israel's Channel Two will premier its top investigative show with an explosive report based on the book 'Confidential'. The show, Uvda meaning 'fact' in Hebrew, will be aired on Monday, November 25 at 9:00 PM. Below is the lead promo that will be aired in heavy rotation until show time. Uvda is Israel's number-one rated investigative journalism show:

Post by ‎עובדה‎.

RT Runs Lengthy Segment On Milchan "Nuclear Smuggling"

The segment was also posted on Al Jazeera. It should be noted that claims of Netanyahu's involvment in 'Operation Pinto' are based only on the testimoney of convicted nuclear smuggler Richard Kelly Smyth and have never been independently verified.

Spies Against Armageddon: A Stunning New Book by Yossi Melman and Dan Raviv

The Authors of Confidential highly recommend the new book by Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman, Spies Against Armageddon, due for release in the coming days. Melman and Raviv are long-time, top notch and highly credible investigative journalists who specialize in the world of Israeli intelligence. Their wide body of work was referenced multiple times in Confidential. Like their previous books, such as Every Spy a Prince and Friends In Deed, there is little doubt that it will be groundbreaking. Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan, is referenced in this fascinating new book.

Yair Lapid On Arnon Milchan's Contributions to Israel's Nuclear Weapons Program

"There is another side to his creativity that is not that flamboyant, that is dead serious, that has to stay secretive, and we all know how hard that is for Arnon. And I know some of the people here are movie-makers, and therefore, by definition, story tellers, people of imagination. So if you have an imagination, think of the things you do know about Israel's capabilities that are not to be discussed, and then think of all the creative ways to get those abilities, and then take out your notebooks and laptops, and imagine what you like. Still, you won't begin to scrape the surface of the things that Arnon has done for Israel. So everybody came here to thank Arnon for the things that we do know; I came to thank Arnon for the things we don't."
    
Yair Lapid was a longtime news anchor on Israeli TV's channel 2, he worked for a short period for Arnon Milchan at New Regency's television division in Hollywood, and is currently a candidate for Israel's Knesset (Parliament), heading up a secular centrist party. As previously reported by this blog, Lapid has as sought the behind-the-scenes support of Arnon Milchan. UPDATE: Yair Lapid has announced that Arnon Milchan's daughter, Elinor Milchan, is a "strategic advisor" and one of the "founders" of his new political party "Atid" which means "Future" in Hebrew. Analysis: It is highly unlikely that Elinor would have involved herself in this kind of political endeavor in Israel without the knowledge and blessing of her politically active father.

Ma'ariv: Legendary Israeli Spy-Master, Benjamin Blumberg, Confirms That Arnon Milchan Was Top Secret Agent Working For Him

The first photograph of legendary Israeli spy-master Benjamin Blumberg
ever published. Blumberg created and ran Israel's super-secret LAKAM spy
agency. Image published in Israel's Maariv Newspaper 04-06-2012.

The Passover addition of one of Israel's oldest and largest daily newspapers, Maariv, contains a huge interview with Benjamin Blumberg, one of the most important hero's in the non-fiction book Confidential. At age 88, these are the first words ever uttered publicly by the legendary spy-master who, on orders from David Ben Gurion and Shimon Peres, created the LAKAM, the Science Liaison Bureau spy agency focused on obtaining technology and materials for Israel's clandestine nuclear program. Blumberg headed LAKAM until the early 1980's, a very active and successful  period. In 1981, the agency was taken over by spy-master Rafi Eitan following a reorganization by then Defense Minister Ariel Sharon. For the first time ever, Blumberg confirmed his relationship with prolific Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan, who was one of his most important and productive agents over a period of many years. The article is in Hebrew, and also contains the only known photograph every taken of Benjamin Blumberg since his high-school days in pre-Israel Palestine. (link to the Maariv article is now available).