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| title | aliases | created | updated | tags | category | summary | start | location | ||||||
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| Lockheed bribe scandal |
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2026-05-17 | 2026-05-17 |
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Intelligence Scandal | 1976 scandal involving bribes paid by Lockheed Aircraft Company to Israeli Defense Minister Shimon Peres and other international figures. | 1976-01-01 | Israel |
The Lockheed bribe scandal refers to a series of bribery incidents involving the Lockheed Aircraft Company. In Israel, a specific instance of this scandal came to light in 1976 through an intercepted telegram.1
Ari Ben-Menashe, while serving as a duty officer in Unit 8200, intercepted a telegram from the Iran Embassy in Ramat Gan to Tehran. This telegram detailed a meeting between a Lockheed representative in Israel and Shimon Peres, then Defense Minister, revealing a bribe of $3.5 million deposited into one of Peres's brother's business accounts in Europe.1
Despite the explosive nature of this information, it was covered up by Israeli military intelligence superiors, including Yoel Ben-Porat and Sasson Yishaek. The original telegram, its translation, and related logs were ordered to be erased, and the young woman working with Ari Ben-Menashe was transferred to another unit. No public disclosure or inquiry was ever made regarding Israel's involvement in the scandal.1
Footnotes
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Ben-Menashe, Ari. Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network. Sheridan Square Press, 1992 (TrineDay reprint, 2015). ↩︎