JERUSALEM, Dec. 24 (JTA) — A former coach of Israel’s table tennis team has been sentenced to four years in prison for spying for the former Soviet Union and having contact with a foreign agent. In a plea bargain, Alexander Radelus admitted to having been recruited by the KGB before immigrating to Israel over 10 years ago. He also admitted to passing on information about his reserve army unit, as well as about tanks and engineering equipment on army bases. He also admitted to conveying information about the economic and political situation in Israel. In its ruling, which also included a two-year suspended sentence, the Tel Aviv District Court judges noted that while the KGB considered Radelus an important contact, the information he passed on had not necessarily damaged state security.
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