The [[Iran-Israel Joint Committee]] was established in the fall of 1980 by [[Menachem Begin 1|Prime Minister Begin]], who ordered [[Yehoshua Sagi|Director of Israel Defense Forces/Military Intelligence Yehoshua Sagi]] and [[Nachum Admoni|acting Director of Mossad Nachum Admoni]] to appoint it. This committee coordinated the efforts of both [[Israel|Israeli]] intelligence services and was assigned the task of supplying [[Iran]] with arms in its war with [[Saddam Hussein|Saddam Hussein's]] [[Iraq]].[^1] The rationale for helping the [[Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini|Khomeini]] government was that if the [[Iran|Iranians]] fought the [[Iraq|Iraqis]], their soldiers would be killed instead of [[Israel|Israeli]] soldiers. Additionally, the war diverted [[Arab]] attention away from [[Israel]] and drained [[Arab countries]] of money. From the [[Likud Party|Likud's]] perspective, the rise of [[Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini|Khomeini]] was beneficial as he was radical, anti-[[USA|American]], and anti-[[Arab]], aligning with [[Israel|Israel's]] national security interest to support him.[^1] The initial members of the [[Iran-Israel Joint Committee]] included [[David Kimche]], [[Shmuel Morieh]], [[Uri Simchoni]], [[Moshe Hebroni]], and [[Rafi Eitan]]. [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] was appointed to the committee on November 28, 1980, as the youngest member, responsible for carrying out the committee's initiatives due to his fluency in Farsi and personal contacts in [[Iran]].[^1] By March 1981, the [[Iran-Israel Joint Committee]] had established mechanisms for handling secret arms sales to [[Iran]], as promised in the October [[Paris meeting]]. [[Israel]] operated under a general agreement of cooperation secretly reached in principle between [[Menachem Begin 1|Prime Minister Begin]] and [[William Casey]] in August 1980. [[David Kimche]] dealt directly with [[Robert Gates]] on the implementation of these sales. In early 1981, [[Robert Gates|Gates]] approved the sale of unsophisticated weapons to [[Iran]].[^1] The [[Iran-Israel Joint Committee]] became self-sufficient, with its operating budget derived from the profits of arms sales, overseen by the [[Mossad]] comptroller. Profits rapidly grew into a huge extra-budgetary slush fund. Disbursements were requested from the [[Mossad]] comptroller through either the heads of the intelligence community or directly from the [[Prime Minister's Office]].[^1] The committee used various trading companies and a flagship holding company called [[Ora Group|Ora]] to manage the slush fund. It also employed smokescreen operations involving private arms brokers like [[John Hortrich]] (alias [[John de Laroque]]) and [[Nicholas Davies]] to obscure its activities. The committee's operations included the sale of [[TOW missile]]s, [[T-80 tank]]s, and other military equipment to [[Iran]].[^1] From March 1981 to the end of 1987, [[Iran]] spent over $82 billion on equipment from the [[USA|United States]], [[Israel]], [[Europe]], [[South America]], and [[South Africa]], with the [[Iran-Israel Joint Committee]] making substantial profits. These profits were used to finance activities of [[Yitzhak Shamir|Yitzhak Shamir's]] faction of the [[Likud Party]], fund "black" operations (including those involving [[Mohammed Radi Abdullah]] and the [[Achille Lauro]] attack), and finance housing projects in the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip]] for Jewish settlers.[^1] In 1984, political chaos in [[Israel]] led to a coalition government between the [[Labor Party]] and [[Likud Party|Likud]]. [[Shimon Peres]], as prime minister, attempted to open a competing arms channel to [[Iran]] through [[Amiram Nir]], which led to the [[Iran-Contra Affair]] scandal. The [[Iran-Israel Joint Committee]] actively worked to thwart this second channel, including leaking information about [[Jonathan Pollard]] and the [[Oliver North|North]]-[[Amiram Nir|Nir]] operation.[^1] In September 1987, [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] and three other members of the [[Iran-Israel Joint Committee]] were dismissed due to pressure on [[Yitzhak Shamir]] following the leaking of the [[Iran-Contra Affair]] story. Prior to this, some funds were set aside for their futures, and the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] money controlled by [[Israel]] was transferred to the [[East Bloc]].[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992. (Hereafter, "Profits of War")