U.S. PRESSES ISRAELIS ON SPY CASE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504850021-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 6, 2012
• Sequence Number: 21
• Publication Date: May 31, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/06: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504850021-0
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WASHINGTON POST
31 May 1986
A State Department official said
yesterday that the department's
only concern was that Israel be
made aware of the information be-
fore it becomes public.
Spokesman Charles E. Redman
said, "We have worked closely with
the Department of Justice to ensure
full enforcement of U.S. laws in this
case, and we are continuing to do
so."
Redman declined to reveal details
of the investigation.
Correspondent William Claiborne,
in Israel, contributed to this report
U.S. Presses
Israelis on
Spy Case
Investigators Believe
Pollard Involved in
Extensive Operation
By Joe Pichirallo
and Don Oberdorfer
wariryem Pat sort writs,
The State Department has asked
the Israeli government to respond
to evidence uncovered by federal
investigators that accused spy Jon-
athan Jay Pollard was part of a more
extensive Israeli espionage oper-
ation than previously acknowleged,
U.S. officials said yesterday.
Officials in recent days have pro-
vided an account of new details de-
veloped by the U.S. investigation of
Pollard, a former civilian Navy
counterintelligence analyst, to the
government of Israeli Prime Min-
ister Shimon Peres in Jerusalem,
but no response has been received,
sources said.
Officials familiar with the inves-
tigation said the latest information
could renew the controversy over
the sensitive issue of possible Is-
raeli spying in the United States
and further embarrass the Peres
government.
Israeli officials had expressed
hope that the Pollard case would be
resolved without further straining
U.S.-Israeli relations, which were
shaken last year following the FBI's
arrest of Pollard outside the Israeli
Embassy here.
The investigation was broadened
when Pollard decided to cooperate
with authorities as his attorneys
attempted to negotiate a plea in the
case, the sources said. Pollard, who
has been in custody without bond
since his arrest Nov. 21, is facing a
maximum sentence of life in prison.
A decision on the charges against
Pollard and his wife, Anne Hender-
son-Pollard, also arrested in the
case, is expected soon, sources
said.
In Israel yesterday, a senior
Peres aide said the government "ab-
solutely rejects" reports that Pol-
lard's alleged activities were tied to
an operation much wider than the
Israelis had led the United States to
believe.
The official noted a statement
issued in December by the State
Department, following the visit to
Israel by a U.S. team probing the
Pollard case, in which thj State De-
partment praised Israel or its "full
cooperation." The official said Israel
regarded the Pollard affair as hav-
ing been "completely and fully clar-
ified by the two governments."
However, U.S. officials said yes-
terday that the new information
about Poll'ard's alleged activities
emerged recently and was not
known when the State Department
made its statement.
U.S. sources said the new evi-
dence indicates that other uniden-
tified individuals here and in Israel,
including an Israeli air force official,
may have been tied to the espio-
nage operation in which Pollard al-
legedly participated.
The sources also said another
person may be charged in the case,
The Los Angeles Times has re-
ported that the air force official is a
regular visitor to?the United States
and is believed to have been the
"master case officer" for U.S. intel-
ligence operations.
One U.S. source said yesterday
that Justice Department officials did
not oppose the State Department's
request to present the new infor-
mation to the Israelis.
Sources said the information was
recently conveyed to Israeli officials
by State Department legal adviser
Abraham Sofaer, who has been in
the Middle East where negotiations
on an Israeli-Egyptian border dis-
pute have been conducted. Sofaer,
who also headed the U.S. team that
went to Israel on the Pollard case
last year, made it clear that the
United States wants a response,
sources said.
Justice Department officials, who
have pressed for disclosure of the
full dimensions of the Pollard case,
have been concerned that the State
Department is trying to limit public
testimony in court involving the
new information, sources said.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/06: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504850021-0