FBI exposes U.S. spy for Israel

It seems that the FBI has caught former NASA scientist Stewart Nozette red-handed. As a result of an undercover sting operation, during which Nozette accepted $11,000 in exchange for classified U.S. information, he has been charged with attempting to sell secret info about U.S. military satellites to Israel.

The FBI operation involved an agent claiming to be a Mossad operative. Although it’s unclear how the FBI first got on Nozette’s trail, once the operation was in place, Nozette allegedly fell right into their trap. He offered “Israel” classified U.S. data for cash and an Israeli passport.

Upon receiving two envelopes containing a total of $11,000 in cash, Nozette reportedly supplied the undercover FBI agent with information about U.S. satellite, early warning and attack response systems. The ex-scientist’s security clearance gave him pretty much unfettered access to data from NASA, the Pentagon and an energy department laboratory where he once worked.

According to the indictment, Nozette worked as a ‘consultant’ for a government-owned Israeli defense firm called Israel Aerospace Industries. Apparently he worked for them for over a decade, receiving a $225K salary for the secret information he was willing to pass along. He allegedly told one of his colleagues that he had committed a crime in the U.S. and wanted to find a protective haven in Israel, where he would be willing to share all the information he had access to.

The U.S. Prosecutor on the case means business – compromising the national security of the U.S. is an offense for which he intends to prosecute “vigorously.”