Israeli Air Force Promotes Pollard Handler

A former Israeli Air Force officer indicted of espionage in the United States for his role in the Pollard Affair is set to be promoted to the reserve rank of Brigadier General, the Israeli army announced, Samuel Sokol reported for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

Photo Insert: Jonathan Pollard scrutinizes his monitoring device upon its removal.

Col. (res.) Aviem Sella, 75, a former pilot who served as the Israeli Air Force’s Director of Operations in the early 1980s, was responsible for Israel’s initial contact with Jewish-American intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard.

Sella introduced Pollard to his Mossad recruiter, former Mossad agent Rafi Eitan, in the early 1980s while he was studying in New York, and was his handler for several months.

Sella never faced trial in the US because Israel refused to extradite him, irking American officials who wanted to scalp him for amassing US secrets that Israel used extensively to win concessions from Washington. Pollard was convicted for espionage and condemned universally for being a traitor.

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