--- category: Foreign Government end: 1987 location: Tel Aviv, Israel start: 1980 summary: The Iran-Israel Joint Committee was established in the fall of 1980 by Menachem Begin 1, who ordered Yehoshua Sagi and Nachum Admoni to appoint it. tags: - Organization - Government - Israel - Iran --- The [Iran-Israel Joint Committee](/organizations/iran-israel-joint-committee/) was established in the fall of 1980 by [Prime Minister Begin](/people/menachem-begin/), who ordered [Director of Israel Defense Forces/Military Intelligence Yehoshua Sagi](/people/yehoshua-sagi/) and [acting Director of Mossad Nachum Admoni](/people/nachum-admoni/) to appoint it. This committee coordinated the efforts of both [Israeli](/places/israel/) intelligence services and was assigned the task of supplying [Iran](/places/iran/) with arms in its war with [Saddam Hussein's](/people/saddam-hussein/) [Iraq](/places/iraq/).[^1] The rationale for helping the [Khomeini](/people/ayatollah-ruhollah-khomeini/) government was that if the [Iranians](/places/iran/) fought the [Iraqis](/places/iraq/), their soldiers would be killed instead of [Israeli](/places/israel/) soldiers. Additionally, the war diverted Arab attention away from [Israel](/places/israel/) and drained Arab countries of money. From the [Likud's](/organizations/likud-party/) perspective, the rise of [Khomeini](/people/ayatollah-ruhollah-khomeini/) was beneficial as he was radical, anti-[American](/places/united-states/), and anti-Arab, aligning with [Israel's](/places/israel/) national security interest to support him.[^1] The initial members of the [Iran-Israel Joint Committee](/organizations/iran-israel-joint-committee/) included [David Kimche](/people/david-kimche/), Shmuel Morieh, [Uri Simchoni](/people/uri-simchoni/), [Moshe Hebroni](/people/moshe-hebroni/), and [Rafi](/organizations/rafi/). [Ari Ben-Menashe](/people/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](/places/iran/).[^1] By March 1981, the [Iran-Israel Joint Committee](/organizations/iran-israel-joint-committee/) had established mechanisms for handling secret arms sales to [Iran](/places/iran/), as promised in the October [Paris Summit Meeting](/events/paris-summit-meeting/). [Israel](/places/israel/) operated under a general agreement of cooperation secretly reached in principle between [Prime Minister Begin](/people/menachem-begin/) and [William J. Casey](/people/william-j-casey/) in August 1980. [David Kimche](/people/david-kimche/) dealt directly with [Robert Gates](/people/robert-gates/) on the implementation of these sales. In early 1981, [Gates](/people/robert-gates/) approved the sale of unsophisticated weapons to [Iran](/places/iran/).[^1] The [Iran-Israel Joint Committee](/organizations/iran-israel-joint-committee/) became self-sufficient, with its operating budget derived from the profits of arms sales, overseen by the [Mossad](/organizations/mossad/) comptroller. Profits rapidly grew into a huge extra-budgetary slush fund. Disbursements were requested from the [Mossad](/organizations/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 to manage the slush fund. It also employed smokescreen operations involving private arms brokers like John Hortrich (alias John de Laroque) and [Nicholas Davies](/people/nicholas-davies/) to obscure its activities. The committee's operations included the sale of [TOW missile](/concepts/tow-missile/)s, T-80 tanks, and other military equipment to [Iran](/places/iran/).[^1] From March 1981 to the end of 1987, [Iran](/places/iran/) spent over $82 billion on equipment from the [United States](/places/united-states/), [Israel](/places/israel/), Europe, [South America](/places/south-america/), and [South Africa](/places/south-africa/), with the [Iran-Israel Joint Committee](/organizations/iran-israel-joint-committee/) making substantial profits. These profits were used to finance activities of [Yitzhak Shamir's](/people/yitzhak-shamir/) faction of the [Likud Party](/organizations/likud-party/), fund "black" operations (including those involving [Mohammed Radi Abdullah](/people/mohammed-radi-abdullah/) and the [Achille Lauro](/events/achille-lauro/) attack), and finance housing projects in the [West Bank](/places/west-bank/) and [Gaza Strip](/places/gaza-strip/) for Jewish settlers.[^1] In 1984, political chaos in [Israel](/places/israel/) led to a coalition government between the [Labor Party](/organizations/labor-party/) and [Likud](/organizations/likud-party/). [Shimon Peres](/people/shimon-peres/), as prime minister, attempted to open a competing arms channel to [Iran](/places/iran/) through [Amiram Nir](/people/amiram-nir/), which led to the [Iran-Contra Affair](/events/iran-contra-affair/) scandal. The [Iran-Israel Joint Committee](/organizations/iran-israel-joint-committee/) actively worked to thwart this second channel, including leaking information about [Jonathan Pollard](/people/jonathan-pollard/) and the [North](/people/oliver-north/)-[Nir](/people/amiram-nir/) operation.[^1] In September 1987, [Ari Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) and three other members of the [Iran-Israel Joint Committee](/organizations/iran-israel-joint-committee/) were dismissed due to pressure on [Yitzhak Shamir](/people/yitzhak-shamir/) following the leaking of the [Iran-Contra Affair](/events/iran-contra-affair/) story. Prior to this, some funds were set aside for their futures, and the [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) money controlled by [Israel](/places/israel/) was transferred to the East Bloc.[^1] [^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992.