Nahum Manbar (, born April 18, 1946) is an Israeli businessman who was involved in arms trade with Iran. He was convicted in series of crimes against Israel's national security and served 14.5 years in prison, prior his release in October 2011.
Early life
Manbar was born in kibbutz Givat Haim in 1946. His parents were among the founders of the kibbutz. At age 16, he was in the reserve squad of the Israeli national basketball team. He served as an officer in the Paratroopers Brigade after being conscripted into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He also served as an instructor at the IDF Officers' College. Manbar fought in the Six-Day War, War of Attrition, and Yom Kippur War. During the Yom Kippur War, he saved the life of Hanoch Saar, who would later serve on his defense team.
Career
After his military service, Manbar moved to Tel Aviv and opened up a series of businesses. His business ventures mostly ended with police investigations and indictments for crimes such as fraud, passing bad checks, and stealing checks from government employees. In 1984 he fled to the United Kingdom after being indicted for fraud, imposture, and theft, and was declared by Israel to be a fugitive from justice. He then began selling produce at the Covent Garden market in London, but soon left Britain and entered the arms trade. He set up weapons companies in Poland and France. During his career as an arms trader, he lived in France and Switzerland before settling in Poland and setting up his headquarters in Warsaw. Some of the weapons Manbar sold were purchased from the Polish Army. In 1994 he became a sponsor of Hapoel Jerusalem B.C.
Manbar sold arms to Iran, establishing contacts in the Iranian Defense Ministry. According to the charges at his trial, Manbar made contact through an Iranian mediator with Majed Abasbur, then the head of the Iranian chemical weapons development project. A deal was signed between Manbar's Mana Investments International company and Iran's section 105B, represented by Abasbur. Manbar initially sold Iran a small number of shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles. Through this deal, he became acquainted with Polish Defense Minister Florian Siwicki. Manbar later sold offensive weaponry such as T-55 tanks purchased from the Polish military to Iran, explaining that "I would buy, say, T-55 tanks from the Polish army for $35,000 apiece, install some fire-control system I had bought from Israel for $20,000 apiece, and sell them to the Iranians for $200,000. The profits were fantastic".
Between 1992 and 1993, Manbar provided Iran with ingredients needed to make chemical weapons, equipment and expertise, and was paid $16 million by 1994 after providing elements of mustard gas and three types of nerve gas: Tabun, Sarin and Soman, and set up a plant in Poland to manufacture chemical weaponry for Iran. He obtained the raw materials necessary to make chemical weapons that he sold to Iran from China and Hungary. He also provided Iran with information and know-how to produce mustard gas. The indictment stated that he had not reported to Israeli intelligence about his contacts until August 1992, despite several meetings with members of the security forces. Despite committing himself to stop his illegal activity, he continued to do so for over a year. Manbar, however, claims that he informed Israeli authorities of his activities, and that his arms sales to Iran were approved by the Israeli Defense Ministry. However, Manbar offered Israel information on military subjects, and also offered to use the high-level links he had with the Iranians to reveal the fate of Ron Arad, exploiting Mossad's desperation for any information on his fate. Manbar supplied the Mossad with a faked video and worthless leads. Manbar's activities, some of which were conducted in Britain, drew the attention of MI6, which could not believe that an Israeli could be working so closely with Iran and concluded that Manbar was a Mossad agent trying to penetrate Iran's defense establishment.