Israel Brothers with Blood in Their Eyes

By William E. Smith

"We've been on the battlefront for Israel too long for anyone to throw that crap at us." That was the reaction of Hyman Bookbinder, 71, a longtime leader of the American Jewish Committee, to Israeli criticism of U.S. Jewish leaders in the wake of the painful case of Jonathan Jay Pollard, 32; the American intelligence analyst was sentenced to life imprisonment earlier this month as an Israeli spy. Few could remember a previous dispute that had produced such tension between Israel and its closest friends in the U.S. But then, as Morris Abram, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said on Israeli television, "We never expected that an American citizen would be spying for the state we love."

In spite of the unprecedented flak he was getting from the 65 U.S. Jewish leaders who visited Israel last week, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir still insisted that the Pollard affair had been a "rogue" operation undertaken without the government's knowledge. Two weeks ago, the Israeli Cabinet reluctantly appointed a two-member committee to investigate the case, but failed to give it the power to subpoena witnesses. Last week the committee appeared to be near collapse after an attorney for three Israelis implicated in the case advised his clients not to testify. In the meantime, a second official inquiry, conducted by the Knesset's intelligence subcommittee, was reportedly making progress in secret session.

The Pollard affair has led to renewed criticism of Shamir and his Labor partners in the national unity government, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin. One newspaper, Yediot Aharonot, published photos depicting the trio under the caption "Everyone covering up for everyone." In Ha'aretz, Commentator B. Michael wrote that the spy case, along with the Israeli role in Iranscam, was part of a pattern in which Israeli leaders have taken the position that "We did not know, did not hear, did not see, did not report, and we are not responsible."

Other Israelis lashed out bitterly at U.S. Jews for failing to stand up for the Pollards. One broadside, published in the Jerusalem Post, came from Political Science Professor Shlomo Avineri, a former director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Addressing U.S. Jews, Avineri declared, "When the going gets tough, your leaders react like trembling Israelites in the shtetl, not like the proud and mighty citizens of a free democratic society . . . America, it now appears, may not be your promised land." Days later the Post reported that U.S. Senator David Durenberger had said privately that the Pollard affair may have had its roots in a 1982 decision by CIA Director William Casey to recruit an Israeli to spy on Israel, thus setting a precedent for espionage between the two countries. Israeli officials denied the story, and Durenberger later characterized his remarks as "speculation." The CIA refused to comment.

Attacks like Avineri's enraged many U.S. Jewish leaders. They felt that Israel should never have exploited an ardent young American Zionist and should now show far more awareness of U.S. feelings. Said Bookbinder bluntly: "Pollard is a criminal found guilty in our system of justice, it's as simple as that. If it was perceived in America that we had come to the defense of Pollard because he's a Jew, our credibility as a Jewish community would be down to zero overnight, and Israel would be the loser." In Washington, the staunchly pro-Israel New Republic called the Jerusalem government's behavior in the Pollard affair "morally unworthy and politically stupid," adding, "If the smart-asses in the corridors of Israeli power think, as one commentator recently put it, that Israel is a 'Teflon nation,' they may be in for a shock."

At the very least, the U.S. expects the Shamir government to fire the two Israelis who are believed to have played important roles in the Pollard affair. One is Colonel Aviam Sella, 41, an air force hero who was Pollard's "handler"; last month Sella was named commander of one of Israel's most important air bases. Similarly, Rafi Eitan, who masterminded the Pollard spy operation, was named chairman of Israel Chemicals, the country's largest government-owned company. Washington also wants Israel to return the 360 cu. ft. of American intelligence documents that Pollard stole from the Naval Investigative Service in Suitland, Md., where he worked. The papers covered a wide range of highly sensitive subjects, from Arab nuclear facilities to Soviet surface-to-air missile capabilities.

So far, the Israeli government has resisted U.S. pressure. Moreover, many Israelis are concerned about the fate of Pollard and his wife Anne Henderson- * Pollard, 26, who this month was given a five-year prison sentence. An Israeli organization called Citizens for Pollard managed to collect $10,000 for the couple's defense fund. In addition, there were unconfirmed reports, subsequently denied by the Pollards' lawyers, that Israel had quietly paid about $75,000 of the Pollards' legal fees of about $400,000.

Throughout the week, both Jerusalem and Washington took tentative steps toward repairing the damage. The Reagan Administration allowed Army Secretary John O. Marsh to make a previously scheduled trip to Israel. The Shamir government, reacting to pressure from Congress, announced that it would not sign new military sales contracts with South Africa, although existing commitments would be unaffected. But the impasse over the Pollard affair was far from over. Declared a Western diplomat in Tel Aviv: "The Israelis have to understand that Washington wants blood."

With reporting by Roland Flamini and Robert Slater/Jerusalem