'I'm proud of what I did': Hollywood producer reveals his double life as an arms dealer and Israeli spy - and says the late Sydney Pollack participated too



Movie tycoon Arnon Milchan, who owns New Regency Films and produced Fight club and Pretty Woman, opened up in a tv interview about his clandestine deals to acquire weapons for Israel in the 70s

He says he worked to promote the country's alleged nuclear program

Claims he convinced other Hollywood bigwigs, including the late director Sydney Pollack, to get involved

Robert De Niro says he knew what Milchan was doing at the time



He used a big-name actor as a lure, calling people 'star-f******'

'I did it for my country and I'm proud of it,’ says the movie producer

Milchan's next film is Noah, a Darren Aronofsky-directed take on the Bible, starring Russell Crowe, Emma Watson and Anthony Hopkins

Israeli spy: Movie tycoon Arnon Milchan, who owns New Regency Films, has given details about his clandestine deals to acquire weapons for Israel in the 70s in a TV interview

A major Hollywood producer is planning to spill the beans about his double life as an arms dealer and Israeli intelligence operative in the late 1970s.



Arnon Milchan, the Israeli producer of smash hits including Fight Club and Pretty Woman, is opening up for the first time ever in an Israeli TV show on Monday to speak about his involvement in clandestine deals to acquire arms for Israel and his work to promote the country's alleged nuclear program.

Russell Crowe, Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck and other major Hollywood players are also featured in the controversial report to be aired on Israel’s Channel 2.

The film tycoon spoke to Israeli investigative journalist Ilana Dayan for the season premiere of her current affairs show, Uvda.

In the interview he tells her how he tried to engage Hollywood colleagues in his work for Israel's Defense Ministry, according to Haaretz.

He claims he managed to convince other Hollywood bigwigs, including the late director Sydney Pollack, to get involved.



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'I knew': Robert De Niro sits next to his friend, Arnon Milchan, in the interview for the show. He says he asked Milchan in the 70s if he was a spy and Milchan admitted it

Caught on camera: Israeli investigative journalist, Ilana Dayan, spoke to Milchan about his clandestine activities for her new show, Uvda, which airs on Monday

Milchan expected Biehl to cooperate because, ‘Anyone who lives in California is a star-f*****… They hear "star"…they come running,’ he said.



But he says life wasn’t always so easy, according to Haaretz.



‘In Hollywood they don’t like working with an arms dealer, ideologically, with someone who lives off selling machine guns and killing.



‘Instead of someone talking to me about a script, I had to spend half an hour explaining that I'm not an arms dealer,’ says Milchan.



'Accepted it': De Niro says Milchan told him he was an Israeli and that 'of course' he would spy for his country. The actor says he did not judge him for it

De Niro was asked if he knew what was going on at the time, and he said he did.



'I did ask him once, we spoke about something, he told me that he was an Israeli and that he of course would do these things for his country.

'I remember at some point, I had asked Arnon about that, being friends I was curious, but not in an accusatory way, I just wanted to know.



'He gave me that answer and I accepted it,' said De Niro.

Closed down: Jonathan Pollard sits in the back of a US government vehicle in 1985 after being accused of spying. The incident closed down Israel's Bureau of Scientific Relations, which Milchan was also involved with

Secret life: The book titled Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan, reveals his double life

‘If people knew how many times I risked my life, back and forth, again and again, for my country. And suddenly, [I have to] defend myself – "I'm not an arms dealer, I don't sell guns, I don't sell rockets". I should have been aware of that, of what I'll go through, and said, "F*** you". You know what, I did it for my country and I'm proud of it.’



This isn’t the first time Milchan's role in Israeli arms dealings and intelligence has surfaced.

Two years ago, a book titled Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Hollywood Tycoon Arnon Milchan, was published by authors Meir Doron and Joseph Gelman.

The book alleged that Milchan was an operative for Israel's Bureau of Scientific Relations, which gathered information for Israel's alleged nuclear program.

The bureau was closed after Jonathan Pollard was arrested for spying on behalf of Israel in 1986.



Milchan is still making movies, and his company, New Regency films, is working on four films slated for release in 2013-14.

