Eitan Quoted: His Superiors Knew of Pollard’s U.S. Spy Operation

TEL AVIV —  Rafael Eitan, named as the Israeli spymaster whose ring recruited U.S. Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard, was quoted Sunday as saying his superiors knew of the operation and that he would not be made a scapegoat.

The independent tabloid Hadashot quoted Eitan as contradicting the government position that Pollard’s recruitment was an unauthorized “rogue” action.

Pollard, 32, a civilian, was sentenced this month in Washington to life in prison for spying for Israel against the United States.

“All my actions, including the Pollard affair, were carried out with the knowledge of my superiors. . . . I do not intend to be used as a sacrifice to cover up the knowledge and responsibility of others,” Eitan was quoted by Hadashot as telling unidentified associates over the weekend.

But when Eitan was asked about the newspaper report during an interview with Israel radio, he said he is not making public or private statements about the case.

“I have undertaken a complete silence on the Pollard affair. I don’t speak about it to anybody and especially not the media,” Eitan said. “What I have to say I will only say to committees authorized to deal with it and only to them.”

Calls to Eitan’s home and his office went unanswered Sunday.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told a meeting of Hadassah, the women’s Zionist organization, on Saturday night that investigators should look into the alleged involvement of the political echelon.

“I have no doubt that they will confirm our contention that we were in complete ignorance of it,” said Peres, who was prime minister when Pollard was arrested.

He reiterated that the operation against the United States was a mistake.

Eitan headed the Scientific Liaison Bureau in the Defense Ministry. After Pollard’s arrest in November, 1985, Israeli officials said Pollard had been hired by Eitan’s unit. The government promptly disbanded the unit.

Eitan, a former Mossad intelligence agent, was subsequently named chairman of the state-owned Israel Chemicals Co.