Yair Klein - Guns For Antigua

Guns For Antigua

Klein, with the help of Bruce Rappaport, was heavily involved in the Guns for Antigua scandal of 1989, helping Maurice Sarfati lauder guns from Israel through Antigua to Colombia, intending to supply Israeli-made weapons to the Medellin Cartel. He was also intended to run the training school for mercenaries that was to be set up on Antigua through which the guns were to be laundered, however, the plan was exposed before this could be set up. Klein was put on trial for three counts of exporting military equipment and expertise without the requisite licenses at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court. Klein pleaded guilty and was convicted in late November 1990. During the trial, he explained that he pleaded guilty "to put an end to the witch hunt running rampant in some of the press, based on rumours and speculation which are harming the state and me." He claimed he had acted "in good faith and in the belief that my actions were within the law.