Daily Mail
November 23, 2013
A major Hollywood producer is planning to spill the beans about his double life as an arms dealer and Israeli intelligence operative in the late 1970s.
Arnon Milchan, the Israeli producer of smash hits including Fight Club and Pretty Woman, is opening up for the first time ever in an Israeli TV show on Monday to speak about his involvement in clandestine deals to acquire arms for Israel and his work to promote the country’s alleged nuclear program.
Russell Crowe, Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck and other major Hollywood players are also featured in the controversial report to be aired on Israel’s Channel 2.
The film tycoon spoke to Israeli investigative journalist Ilana Dayan for the season premiere of her current affairs show, Uvda.
In the interview he tells her how he tried to engage Hollywood colleagues in his work for Israel’s Defense Ministry, according to Haaretz.
He claims he managed to convince other Hollywood bigwigs, including the late director Sydney Pollack, to get involved.
Pollack, who died in 2008, acquired arms and other military equipment for Israel in the 1970s, reveals Milchan in the TV report.
Pollack knew of the details of the deals, says Milchan, who adds that he ‘didn’t want to scare him because he’s American… He could have said “no”. He said “no” many times, but he also said “yes” many times’.
Milchan also says he used at least one big-name actor’s star quality to lure US scientist Arthur Biehl – an expert on nuclear weapons and a co-developer of the hydrogen bomb – to a meeting.
Milchan invited Biehl to the actor’s home under the pretence the actor was seeking scientific advice for a project he was working on.