ISRAEL'S 'SELECTIVE COOPERATION' IN POLLARD SPY CASE

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP90-00965R000605480003-9
Release Decision: 
RIFPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
2
Document Creation Date: 
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
May 1, 2012
Sequence Number: 
3
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
January 9, 1987
Content Type: 
OPEN SOURCE
File: 
AttachmentSize
PDF icon CIA-RDP90-00965R000605480003-9.pdf142.2 KB
Body: 
.., Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/02 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000605480003-9 rv% t tt;l,t;!{Yr~flK~D 4 J stag wrire--of The Cniis"tian silence M,-ft, i$ u_Lne ruuarn case suggest that -- ' a v,.auaacaa{~ Mr Fhl lte vered to . m 1984 and '86. career as an The detai s are in a Justice Depart- ment lc. tence for for Pb who pleaded a stiff psen. nags last June. Pollard is sch dulled top be sentenced Feb. 10 and fac a possible life sentence, o officials cials returned 163 classified docu- measnts t to Uf representatives in December 1985 a Boon with American autbori- 10"~ - T JS =C t memorandum -"filed in US ef e .- on #3Lilatd Provided the T..17! s intx of become increasingly important as the new RDed5k] 's Drab int the White House'a aarnat otrort to sell arms to r,~n r a , The administration with top Israeli o of the secret Iran whether Presidejt . Tire White House v Lran in the - - - ,w a w Pl910 0 vl\ TFM17C__ Israel's `selective cooperation' in. Pollard spy case Israeli government officialsmaintain that they became involved in the Iran arms episode as a favor to the US. They stress they have done nothing improper. In the Pollard case, American investi- gators have received only "selective coop. eration" from Israeli officials, according to FBI Director William Webster and John Martin, chief of the the justice Depart- ment's internal-security section, Justice Department officials say their investiga CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR 9 January 1987 tion into Israeli spying in the ub is con- tinuing, but they have acknowmdied that. without Israeli operation, it is jur- - likely paid Fb llthat the ard will Israelis who trialdirected Israeli officials say they are cooperat- ing fully with US investigators. They as- sert that the spy ring was a rogue oper- ation organized without the knowledge of senior Israeli officials. And they point out thathe alle ed leader of- the Poll aDV tirt~ Safi Eit, was dis i:ii asaresr~ missed from his intelli- But Mr. Eitan was later named chairman of the board of state- owned Israel Chemi- cals. And Aviem Sella, who made initial ar- rangements for Pol- lard's spying and played a role in the spy ring, has been pro- moted to brigadier gen- eral in the Israeli Air Force and assigned command of a large Is- raeli air base. The Eitan and Sella appointments raise questions about whether the two are be- ing punished or rewarded for their ac- tions in the US spy case. Ironically, according to documents in US District Court, Eitan is said to have repeatedly assured Pollard during the spy. operation that he would be "taim care; of" if he were caught spying. Pollard, a former Navy counterterror- ism analyst, says he was told several times by Eitan that he should not worry about being detected by US authorities Man . an told Pollard that any legal action by the US against him could be "contained," according to court documents. The Pollard's f is could not be immedi- ately determined. But a Justice Department spokesman noted, "It is obvious that Mr., Man was unable to perform what he had promised. Mr. Pollard is sitting in a prison cell." Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/02 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000605480003-9 Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/02 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000605480003-9 Some analysts say it is not uncommon for senior intelligence. offi-. cers like Eitan to make unrealistic promises of unlimited support when trying to encour- age spy recruits to undertake difficult assignments. They maintain that Eitan may have exaggerated Israeli influence in an effort to allay Pbllard's fear of arrest. A spokesman for the US attorney's office refused to comment about Eitan's alleged assertion that he had influence within the US government to fix criminal cases. Israeli Embassy spokesman Yossi Gal also declined comment. Israeli officials interceded in a US Cus- toms Service investigation last summer in which eight Israelis were to appear be- fore two grand juries investigating an alleged conspiracy to smuggle cluster- bomb manufacturing equipment to Israel. According to a knowledgeable source, Israeli officials worked through the State Department's Office of Legal Counsel to pressure Justice Department officials to withdraw the subpoenas. In exchange, Israeli officials pledged cooperation in the customs probes. As a result, the Israelis involved may be insulated from criminal charges, according to legal sources. Justice Department officials refuse to comment on the cluster-bomb case. A spokesman said only that "we have not caved in on that case at all." The eight Israelis work in New York for Israel Military Industries (1MI), Isra- el's government-owned military procure- ment firm. IMI is charged with the task of Purchasing and obtaining military tech- nology and military-related equipment. US officials have said the subpoenas were withdrawn in an effort to prevent a lengthy legal battle with the Israeli Em- bassy over whether or not the Israelis involved were covered by diplomatic im- munity. But according to the State De- parUnent's Office of Protocol, only one offics;t at IMI is entitled to immunity from US criminal charges. Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/02 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000605480003-9