For the past two years, Dr. Uzi Arad, the former director of intelligence for Israel’s Mossad, has been denied entry into the United States based on a 2004 meeting he held with a Pentagon official who has since been sentenced to 12 years in prison for passing classified information to Israel. Under a long-standing section of the Immigration and Nationality Act (NA), foreign individuals suspected of engaging in espionage or sabotage against the U.S. cannot be granted a visa to come here.
Netanyahu, who was sworn in for a second stint as prime minister Tuesday, has long said he will appoint Arad director of Israel’s National Security Council, a critical post that will almost certainly require frequent consultation with top U.S. officials.
