INVESTIGATORS IN POLLARD CASE CONFRONT HISTORY OF ACCOMMODATION BY U.S., ISRAELI SPY AGENCIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302010005-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 24, 2012
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: December 18, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/09/24: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302010005-4
ARTICLE APPEARED
Investigators in Pollard Case Confront History
Of Accommodation by U.S., Israeli Spy Agencies
leading a team of U.S. investigators in Is- processed bomb-grade metal for the U.S.
6. Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL volved in what Israeli sources have de- would take about 22 pounds of highly en-
By JOHN J. FIALKA rael for secret talks with three men in- government. U.S. weapons experts say it
WASHINGTON?U.S. officials investi- scribed as an unauthorized, "rogue" intel- riched uranium to make a bomb.
gating Jonathan J. Pollard, a Navy civilian ligence-gathering network operating under While they found some evidence, includ-
employee accused of spying for Israel, are the cover of an agency called the Science ing a worker at the plant who recalled
trying to get to the bottom of the case with- liaison Bureau. mysterious nighttime shipments protected
out seriously damaging the close relation- According to Mr. Pollard's admissions by armed guards, FBI investigators ran
ship between U.S. and Israeli intelligence to the FBI, two of the men were his con- into serious obstacles. One of them was an
services. tacts in the U.S. Within a few hours of Mr. unexplained fire that destroyed most of the
Apart from diplomatic considerations, Pollard's admissions after his arrest on company's shipping records. The upshot of
the officials must deal with two contending Nov. 21, his two alleged "handlers," Ilan the case was that Mr. Shapiro lost his se
forces within the U.S. counterintelligence Ravid, a science attache at the Israeli em- curity clearance, but no charges were ever
community. The Federal Bureau of Inves- bassy in Washington, and Yosef Yagur, a brought. Mr. Shapiro insisted the uranium
tigation, which has a long, mystery- science officer at Israel's consulate in New loss was due to normal processing losses
shrouded and largely frustrating history of York, were secretly spirited home to Is- and that suspicions of a diversion to Israel
probing apparent Israeli efforts to gain ac- rael. were "ridiculous."
cess to U.S. secrets and prohibited technol- Aggravated Skepticism 'Unusual Relationship'
ogy, wants to pursue the case vigorously.
But some officials in the Central Intelli- That move aggravated skepticism Another FBI investigation involved Ste-
gence Agency and American military intel- within the FBI over the wording of a State phen D. Bryen, a former Senate Foreign
ligence services are worried about the Department statement, laboriously worked Relations Committee aide, who was over-
damage the case may cause in relations out with Israeli officials, "calling for dis- heard talking to a group of Israeli Defense
with the main Israeli intelligence agencies, cussions and other forms of cooperation" Ministry officials in a Washington restau-
led by Mossad. Israel has been a major
that will determine the facts of the Pollard rant in 1978. According to one witness, Mr. pipeline of information to the U.S. on So- case. Bryen appeared to be offering the Israelis
viet intelligence and on activities of Arab The developments in the Pollard case a Pentagon document showing the location
terrorists, recall the history of conflict and lack of co- of military bases in Saudi Arabia. Mr.
One former U.S. intelligence official
operation that can be read in the FBI files Bryen denied the charge.
of
calls Israel's drive for U.S. secrets pa on allegations of Israeli spying over two
rt decades. Justice Department memos on the case
the "background noise" to what has been a as
There is even the case of the disappear- show that investigators found a "highly un-
ing back many years." "most fruitful intelligence relationship go- ing defendant. Last spring, federal investi- usual relationship" between Mr. Bryen and
gators amassed enough evidence to indict Israeli diplomats, including one who vis-
Amid this conflict, cases of alleged Is- a Huntington Beach, Calif., man. Richard ited Mr. Bryen's Senate office regularly
raeli spying during the past 20 years have K. Smyth, on charges of illegally exporting and who appeared to be giving him "or-
been accompanied by missing witnesses 800 krytrons to Israel. Krytrons are small ders." According to his lawyer, Nathan
and evidence, and occasional instances of switching devices that have several de- Lewin, Mr. Bryen "flatly denied" the
strong political pressures to close investi-
fense-related uses. One of them is in the charges.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
18 December 1985
POLITICS AND POLICY
gations without bringing criminal
charges. trigger mechanism for nuclear weapons. Under strong pressure from Justice De-
But the Pollard case is an unusually
In August, on the eve of his trial. Mr. partment officials and some members of
"
patent violation," where the FBI has found Smyth, 55, disappeared with his wife Erni- the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to
itself with a windfall of evidence, says one lie, leaving relatives with the impression close the case, Justice Department law-
investigator. Mr. Pollard was turned in by that he had fled the country. Mr. Smyth's yers concluded in a memorandum that
fellow civilian workers at the Navy's Anti- lawyer, Alan Croll. says he doesn't know they couldn't prove Mr. Bryen had violated
Terrorist Alert Center in Suitland, Md., where his client is, but he notes that Mr. espionage laws. The memo, later released
part of a complex run by the Naval Inves- Smyth was not charged with being an Is- under the Freedom of Information Act,
agent. tigative Service. He admitted delivering raeli ag said there were "unanswered questions"
classified documents to Israeli contacts for The granddaddy of probes involving regarding Mr. Bryen's efforts to obtain
18 months and receiving $2,500 a month as suspicions of Israeli spying began in 1965 sensitive information unrelated to his Sen-
payment. Moreover, FBI agents retrieved and included three separate FBI investiga- ate job that would have been of "inestima-
top secret documents from Mr. Pollard, his dons ordered by the Johnson, Nixon and ble value to the Israelis."
apartment and from his suitcase to back Ford administrations. The case, which was Mr. Bryen is currently a deputy under-
up its charges. The strength of the case so finally closed in 1981, concerned a still un- - secretary at the Defense Department in
far suggests that "this one can't be bur- explained loss of 382 pounds of highly en- charge of international trade security pol-
led," one investigator says. riched uranium from a private processing icy.
The man trying to balance the conflict- plant, the Nuclear Materials and Equip- According to former U.S. intelligence
ing U.S. interests is Abraham Sofaer, the ment Corp. of Apollo, Pa. officials, who asked not to be identified,
State Department's legal adviser. He is
According to documents later obtained there have been several other FBI investi-
from the FBI and other agencies under the gations of alleged Israeli spy activity, most
, .
Freedom of Information Act, the president of them attempts to steal U.S. technology.
of the plant, Zalman M. Shapiro, received The FBI says it cannot disclose how many
frequent visits from Israeli diplomats and other cases there are in its files because it
operated as a purchasing agent for the Is- does not discuss investigations that do not
raeli military while he ran the plant, which result in criminal charges.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2912/09/24: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302010005-4