Long-Term Damage Seen in Israeli Response on Spy

Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.) said today that the Israeli government’s disregard for U.S. concerns in the Pollard spy case may cause long-term damage to relations between the two nations.

Obey, who heads the House Appropriations Committee’s foreign operations subcommittee, said he and other members of the panel are very upset about the way the Israeli government has handled the Pollard case. The subcommittee has jurisdiction over U.S. foreign aid and Israel is the largest recipient.

In a meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas Pickering, Obey said “droves of members of Congress have expressed their anger” over the fact that Israeli Gen. Aviem Sella, who was indicted by a U.S. grand jury on espionage charges, is not available for questioning. Sella has been rewarded with the command of a major air base in Israel.

Sella is accused of recruiting Jonathan Jay Pollard to spy on the United States. Pollard, 32, was sentenced to life imprisonment in Washington last week after confessing he sold U.S. military secrets to Israel.

“Despite all of the diplomatic formulations which have described America’s relationship with Israel over the years, the main reason for our closeness is personal friendship and a belief in each other’s character and principles,” Obey said.

“For the Israeli government to cavalierly dismiss American concerns in this case is an abuse of that friendship and will do long-term damage to our relationship unless that government reverses its position. That is not the kind of conduct we have a right to expect from the country that is the largest recipient of U.S. aid--$3 billion every year.”