Knesset Unit to Complete Its Probe of Pollard Case in Seven to Ten Days

The Knesset’s intelligence subcommittee investigating the government’s role in the Jonathan Pollard spy case will complete taking evidence “within seven to 10 days” and then begin writing its report, Abba Eban, chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, the subcommittee’s parent body, said Wednesday. The subcommittee began its work last Thursday and has been meeting daily. At the same time, a two-man “clarification committee” appointed by the Inner Cabinet began its own probe into the Pollard affair this week.

Eban spoke to reporters after briefing a visiting delegation of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. He said he had not disclosed details but outlined the subcommittee’s procedures. The American Jewish leaders appeared pleased that Israel has undertaken a serious investigation of the Pollard affair on both the Knesset and Cabinet levels, he said.

“We’ve made a lot of progress. We’ve interviewed the central characters in this matter and will have completed taking our evidence within seven to 10 days,” Eban said. He said about a dozen witnesses have been heard, on the political and operational levels.

They included the two top Israeli officials linked to Pollard, Air Force Col. Aviem Sella and former Mossad operative Rafael Eitan.

The latest was Avraham Shalom, former head of Shin Bet, Israel’s internal secret service agency, who appeared before the subcommittee Tuesday morning. Shalom conducted the first investigations when the Pollard spy case came to light in 1985.

Meanwhile, some concern was expressed here over an anomalous situation that may arise if the Knesset body issues its report while the Cabinet-appointed inquiry is still at work hearing testimony, examining documents and analyzing its findings.