On the Pollard Spy Case

Israeli Embassy Spokesman Yossi Gal:

"The Pollard affair was an unauthorized deviation from the clear-cut Israeli policy of not conducting any espionage activity whatsoever in the United States or activities against the interests of the United States, given that the United States is a true friend of Israel." (Statement to the press, May 31, 1986)

The Washington Post:

"How plausible are official denials of responsibility for an operation whose handlers, when unmasked, were promoted? Was this project connected to other shadowy international operations involving Israelis that have come to light in the last year?" (Editorial, June 8, 1986)

Israeli Government Statement:

"The Government of Israel reiterates that in accordance with the agreement reached in December 1985 between Israel and the United States, full cooperation regarding the Pollard affair has been and is continuing." (Statement to the press, May 31, 1986)

Bernard Gwertzman:

"The criticism of Israel has irked some senior State Department officials whose views Usually reflect those of Mr. Shultz . . . . His aides have taken the position that there is no evidence that the Israeli Government failed to cooperate fully." (The New York Times, June 7, 1986)

The Christian Science Monitor

"The mere fact that highest authorities are helping to quiet it all down is in itself a partial explanation of why Israel does things like this and thinks it can get away with it .... Israel does in fact get away with almost anything in its relations with the U.S." (Editorial, June 10, 1986)

John J. Fialka:

"The guilty plea by Mr. Pollard is believed to be the first time the U.S. has pressed an Israeli espionage case to a successful prosecution. The FBI has a long history of investigating Israeli intelligence activities; however, most investigations have ended privately and inconclusively amid rumors that the Israelis involved were quietly sent back to Israel . . . ." (The Wall Street Journal, June 5, 1986)

FBI Director William H. Webster:

"It appears that we've probably received selective cooperation." (Interview quoted in The Baltimore Sun, June 6, 1986)

Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin:

"I don't know what is motivating and impelling certain echen’s in the U.S. administration to go after Israel . . . " (The Baltimore Sun, June 9, 1986)

Senator David F. Durenberger (R-MN):

"I don't know that it was a renegade operation and I don't know that it was a unique kind of operation ... we need more information. In other words, we're not taking peoples' word for the fact there's nothing going on." (The Washington Post, June 11, 1986)

Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres:

"In recent weeks we have witnessed a wave of unfounded reports regarding ostensible espionage affairs and Israeli arms deals . . . . Israel reiterates that no espionage activities are conducted against the United States on its behalf." (The New York Times, June 9, 1986)

William Safire:

"We can now expect to be treated to revelations about Israeli spying in the U.S., followed by increasingly implausible denials from Mr. Peres that he knew anything about this operation." (The New York Times, June 2, 1986)

White House Spokesman Edward P. Djerejian:

"Any espionage against the United States is extremely serious. For that reason the Administration has pursued the investigation of the Pollard case with great vigor and will continue to do so until it is resolved. We continue to be in touch with the Israelis, who have promised full cooperation." (Statement to the press, June 2, 1986)

Michael Wines and Ronald J. Ostrow:

"Despite Justice Department assurances that Ally. Gen. Edwin Meese III and (Secretary of State) Shultz are 'completely on board' in the Pollard investigation, two government officials predicted Thursday that 'State will make every effort to stop more indictments, but Justice plans to go ahead with great vigor."' (The Los Angeles Times, June 6, 1986)

The Philadelphia Inquirer:

"U.S. intelligence officials say evidence shows that Israel has run spy operations in the United States for years .... A 1979 secret CIA memo noted that Israeli intelligence sets top priority on information on Arab states, secret U.S. policy decisions, and scientific secrets of developed countries. Pollard reportedly collected technical data and information on Washington's moderate Arab allies. Perhaps some Israeli officials, enmeshed in a 'seige mentality,' figured any extra tips about their Arab neighbors were worth the risk of alienating the one ally without whose help they cannot fight another war. Maybe they thought the Israel-Washington relationship too secure ever to be threatened if their cover was blown. They never seem to have given much thought to how such revelations—much less enlisting an American Jew to spy on his country—would embarrass American Jewry." (Editorial, June 8, 1986)

Israel Eldad:

" . . . is it really so impossible, and furthermore is it so undesirable, that indeed every Jew in the world should act in solidarity with the Jews in times of emergency and give superior loyalty to his duty to the Jewish nation above any other loyalty?" (Haaretz, December 12, 1985)

Joe Pichirallo:

In every intelligence operation you have a built-in plausible deniability,' said one U.S. official involved in counterintelligence. 'You can't have the number of people, the quality of intelligence [Pollard provided], the amount of money involved and the amount of time in an operation like this and have it be a so-called 'rogue operation.' " (The Washington Post, June 17, 1986)

William Claiborne:

"One senior (Israeli) official, pressed on the question of whether the $300,000 Pollard allegedly was promised over a 10-year period by his Israeli control agents did not suggest something wider than a small 'renegade' spying operation appeared annoyed when he retorted: 'Thirty thousand a year is peanuts. . .' ." (The Washington Post, June 9,1986)

Warren Richey:

"The former chief of the Justice Department's internal-security section has been quoted as saying that Israeli intelligence was the second most active foreign intelligence service in the U.S. The most active spy network is run by the Soviet Union." (The Christian Science Monitor, June 6, 1986)