Pollard Witnesses Urged Not to Talk : Lawyer’s Advice to Israelis May Doom Inquiry

The commission appointed to investigate the Pollard spy scandal may be doomed because a lawyer has advised three key witnesses not to testify and the investigators cannot force them to do so.

David Libai, the attorney, said today he feared that his clients’ statements to the inquiry, which is being conducted in private, could be used against them in a U.S. court if the findings were turned over to the United States.

Jonathan Jay Pollard, a 32-year-old American Jew who worked as a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy, was sentenced early this month in Washington to life in prison for selling U.S. military secrets to Israel.

Israel Claim

Israel claims the spy operation was run without government authorization by a Defense Department agency after it was disbanded.

The two-man commission appointed by Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir to investigate the case cannot issue subpoenas requiring witnesses to appear and has not been given the authority to refuse access to testimony.

“The law is not clear about the commission’s authority or the rights of those questioned,” Libai said. “There is nothing that says what they tell the commission cannot be used against them in a U.S. court of law.”

If Joseph Yagur, Irit Erb and Ilan Ravid refuse to answer questions, the commission most likely will disband. Chairman Yehoshua Rotenstreich, a lawyer and president of Israel’s Press Council, said when appointed that he would resign if he could not question everyone involved.

Science Attaches

Yagur and Ravid were science attaches at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, and Erb was a secretary. They allegedly were involved in dealing with Pollard.

Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin declared that the inquiry would go forward.

“We are fully aware of the seriousness of the case. We will try to do our utmost to find out what really happened,” he told a group of American Jewish leaders visiting Israel.

Rabin said the United States is maintaining strategic agreements with Israel despite the strain in relations caused by the Pollard affair.

“All the relations, whatever was agreed on--visits, exercises--are going on as they were planned,” Rabin said. “There is no interruption in all the activities within the framework of the strategic cooperation between our two countries.”

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres would not comment on whether the commission could be effective without the testimony of central figures in the Pollard case.

“Let the investigating commission decide,” he said. “It’s for them. I don’t want to intervene; neither do I want to hint at any solution.”

Peres spoke to reporters after meeting with some of the American Jewish leaders, who have urged Israel to conduct a thorough investigation.

He said on Israel army radio later that the witnesses might decide to testify or agree to conditions the commission could accept.

An aide said Peres, who was prime minister when Pollard was arrested in November, 1985, wanted to save the commission and would see whether changes could be made that would satisfy Libai and allow his clients to testify.