Israel Agrees to Cooperate With Iran Scandal Probe : Will Give Walsh Arms Sales Data

After a year of thorny negotiations, independent counsel Lawrence Walsh has reached a secret agreement with Israel for its cooperation in his investigation of the Iran-Contra scandal, both sides announced today.

In a brief statement, Walsh expressed satisfaction with the agreement and said his office looks forward to continued cooperation from Israel.

Under the accord, Israel has given Walsh the historical and financial chronologies covering its role in the shipment of U.S. weapons to Iran in 1985 and 1986, an Israeli official said.

“(Walsh) will get what he wants without us having to give up what we wanted,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Israel had sought immunity from prosecution for the four key Israeli players in the arms sales, profits from which were diverted to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

Written Responses

It did not appear that Walsh won the direct testimony of any of the four Israelis and rather would be forced to accept written responses to questions posed by his investigators--a process similar to the one taken with President Reagan.

Sources close to Walsh said the material turned over by Israel could be used as evidence in court.

“It is far short of what we would have liked, but it is better than nothing. It is assistance that will be useful,” said one source who refused to be identified.

Former White House aides Lt. Col. Oliver L. North and retired Adm. John M. Poindexter, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard Secord and arms dealer Albert Hakim pleaded innocent last week to a 23-count indictment charging them with conspiracy, fraud and theft.

In public hearings on the scandal last year, witnesses testified that Israeli officials were involved in the initial stages of secret U.S. arms sales to Iran.

Lack of Cooperation

Walsh and his investigators have long been known to be upset over what they viewed as a lack of Israeli cooperation.

Walsh went to court last year in an unsuccessful attempt to force a former top Israeli diplomat to testify before his grand jury that investigated the Iran-Contra scandal.

The dispute heated up last May when Walsh served a subpoena on former Israeli diplomat David Kimche. Kimche, the former director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, played a key role in initiating the first arms shipments to Iran in 1985.

Israel fought the subpoena on the grounds that Kimche had diplomatic immunity and that Israeli law prevented him from testifying about actions he took as a government official.

A subpoena was also served on Al Schwimmer, a private arms dealer and a friend of Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. Schwimmer was also involved in the arms sales to Iran.

Couldn’t Serve Subpoenas

Walsh also issued but was unable to serve subpoenas for Amiram Nir, a counterterrorism adviser to Israeli Prime Ministers Peres and Yitzhak Shamir, and Yaacov Nimrodi, an arms dealer and former Israeli intelligence agent.

Israel had sought an out-of-court settlement with Walsh over the subpoenas.

In asking for immunity, Israel contended that the four acted at the request of the Israeli government and therefore were not accountable as individuals.

Walsh’s spokesman, Jim Wieghart, and Israeli Embassy spokesman Yossi Gal said the terms of the agreement are confidential.

“The negotiations were difficult,” Wieghart said. “Israel is a sovereign state with certain national security interests, which they have to defend. We recognized that, but on the other hand, we had our needs in this investigation.”