KALMANOVITCH, SHABTAI (1947– ). Born in Lithuania,
Kalmanovitch trained as a chemical engineer. Soon after his studies,
he joined the Soviet Red Army. When his army commanders learned
that his family was planning emigration to Israel, he was summoned
to the Jewish administration of the Soviet KGB and was recruited for
espionage missions in Israel in return for expediting the emigration
procedures for himself and his family. When he immigrated to Israel
in 1971, he was already a KGB agent.
Kalmanovitch was instructed by his Soviet case officer to make his
way into a position in Israeli society that would enable him to collect
information, especially on Israeli institutions such as Nativ, which
were involved in “anti-Soviet activities” in the Soviet Union. The KGB
funded investments for him in Israel, and he soon became a wealthy
businessman. His wealth helped him to attract friends among Israelis
of the high echelons, including generals in the Israel Defense Forces
(IDF). Several of these were intelligence officers. Brigadier General
Dov Tamaribecame a close friend of Kalmanovitch, who invited
Tamari on a short African tour as domestic security consultant, with all
Tamari’s expenses paid. He also made contacts with members of the Is-
raeli Knesset and invited government ministers to lavish parties at his
villa in a rich neighborhood of north Tel Aviv. Kalmanovitch boasted
that even the door to Prime Minister Golda Meir was open to him.
However, his frequent trips to East Germany and the Soviet Union
aroused the suspicion of the Israeli Security Agency(ISA), which
eventually found evidence that Kalmanovitch was providing infor-
mation to Communist agents of Eastern European countries.
Kalmanovitch was caught at the peak of his financial power. In 1988
he was tried and found guilty of espionage and sentenced to nine
years in prison, although his espionage had not caused serious dam-
age. Kalmanovitch was released from prison in the first half of 1993,
officially for good behavior. In fact his behavior was unsatisfactory,
and he was even suspected of bribing his jailers. Actually, he was re-
leased for other reasons.
Kalmanovitch’s business partner was Josef Kobzon, a member
of the Russian Duma. Kobzon gave assurances to the Israeli lead-
ers that after Kalmanovitch’s release from prison, he would work
for the resumption of diplomatic relations between Israel and Rus-
sia. Kobzon had many unofficial contacts with Israeli governmentKALMANOVITCH, SHABTAI• 13706-102 (03) H-P.qxd 3/24/06 7:24 AM Page 137