Washington ? A Pentagon analyst was arrested Wednesday and charged with giving top secret information about potential attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq to employees of a pro-Israel group.

Larry Franklin, a 58-year-old Air Force Reserves colonel who once worked for the Pentagon’s No. 3 official, is the first person charged in a long-running investigation into whether Israel improperly obtained U.S. secrets.

Twice last year FBI agents searched the offices of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a lobbying organization influential on U.S.-Israeli relations. It was once thought AIPAC might be a target of the probe, but that’s not the case, according to two knowledgeable people. They spoke only on condition of anonymity because the probe is still under way.

One of the people is someone familiar with the group’s role in the probe; the other is a federal law enforcement official. They said the FBI is focusing on whether any classified information reached Israel.

An FBI agent’s affidavit that accompanied the criminal complaint against Franklin does not suggest that the disclosure endangered U.S. troops, but said intelligence sources could have been compromised.

There is no allegation of espionage by Franklin. He faces a single count of disclosing classified defense information.

In Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said his country was not involved.

“Israel does not carry on any activity in the United States which could harm, God forbid, its closest ally,” Shalom said.