---
category: Iran-Contra
location: United States
summary: After the deaths of Freddie and Herut (Ari Ben-Menashe's daughter), Ora and
  Ari Ben-Menashe began a relationship in late 1986, eventually living together in
  Jerusalem.
tags:
- Person
- IranContra
- Israel
- Military
---

[Ora Ben-Shalom](/people/ora-ben-shalom/) is the wife of [Ari Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/). She was born in the [United States](/places/united-states/) to a [Canadian](/places/canada/) Jewish mother and an [Austrian](/places/austria/) Jewish father. Her family moved to [Israel](/places/israel/) when she was 12, and they changed their family name from Friedman to Ben-Shalom. The family was religiously observant and ultra-rightwing politically.[^1]

[Ora](/people/ora-ben-shalom/) joined the External Relations Department (ERD) of the [Israel](/places/israel/)/Military Intelligence as a first lieutenant in 1979, where she met [Ari Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/). She was fluent in English, Spanish, and Hebrew. She later left the ERD in 1980 to work for [Mossad](/organizations/mossad/) and was appointed to a prestigious position in public relations at the Hilton International in [Jerusalem](/places/jerusalem/), while remaining a [Mossad](/organizations/mossad/) "operative."[^1]

After the deaths of Freddie and Herut (Ari Ben-Menashe's daughter), [Ora](/people/ora-ben-shalom/) and [Ari Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) began a relationship in late 1986, eventually living together in [Jerusalem](/places/jerusalem/). She traveled with him on various business trips to Europe.[^1]

In August 1987, [Ora](/people/ora-ben-shalom/) was put under surveillance and interrogated by SHABAK (Israel's internal security agency) after she was discovered meeting with [CIA](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) people in [Tel Aviv](/places/tel-aviv/). She admitted to talking to the [Americans](/places/united-states/) about [Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) and his knowledge of the [Iran-Contra Affair](/events/iran-contra-affair/). Her ties with [Mossad](/organizations/mossad/) were terminated, but [Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) intervened to prevent her prosecution, claiming she was pregnant and they planned to marry. Their daughter, Shira, was born on July 22, 1988.[^1]

In October 1989, [Ora](/people/ora-ben-shalom/) and [Ari Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) planned a vacation to Sydney, [Australia](/places/australia/). However, [Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) was arrested in [Los Angeles](/places/los-angeles/) before they could depart. [Ora](/people/ora-ben-shalom/) later divorced [Ari Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/) in [Israel](/places/israel/).[^1]

[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992.