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U.S. Lifts Ban on Two Israeli Military Men

February 16, 1989
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The U.S. government recently lifted its ban on entry into the United States of two senior Israel Defense Force officers who were allegedly involved in the Jonathan Pollard spy scandal, Hadashot reported Wednesday.

They are former Chief of Staff Moshe Levy and the former commander of the Israel air force, Gen. Amos Lapidot. Both have since retired.

Levy, in fact, recently visited the United States.

The newspaper report said the decision to lift the ban was reached at high-level discussions between Israeli and American officials, in which senior jurists from both countries were involved.

Jonathan Pollard, a former civilian intelligence analyst employed by the U.S. Navy, is serving a life sentence in federal prison on charges of spying for Israel.

His wife, Anne Henderson Pollard, is serving two concurrent five-year sentences as an accomplice.

The Pollards, both Americans, were arrested in Washington in 1985.

The Israel government disavowed any knowledge of Pollard’s activities, claiming he was recruited and paid by a wildcat espionage ring.

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