Israeli General Charged With Hiring U.S. Spy

WASHINGTON —  A federal grand jury indicted Israeli air force Brig. Gen. Aviem Sella for espionage today, charging he recruited and “ran” confessed spy Jonathan Pollard in a spy ring as damaging as any in U.S. history.

The indictment, a blow to Israel’s efforts to distance itself from the controversial spy case, was returned a day before Pollard was to be sentenced in U.S. District Court for selling thousands of U.S. secrets to Israel.

Sella, recently promoted in the Israeli air force, was charged with three counts of espionage, according to the 21-page indictment.

Accused of Recruiting Pollard

Sella was charged with recruiting and directing Pollard, a Navy intelligence analyst who was arrested at the gates of the Israeli Embassy in November, 1985.

Prosecutors are seeking a “substantial” prison term for Pollard, who pleaded guilty in June to espionage and has been cooperating with authorities. They have told the court that his spying was as damaging to American intelligence as any case in U.S. history.

Despite the indictment, it is unlikely Sella will face trial in the United States because the U.S.-Israeli extradition treaty does not cover espionage cases.

Subject to Arrest in U.S.

The federal charges will leave Sella subject to arrest if he travels to the United States and will likely hamper his career in Israel.

The long-contemplated move by prosecutors came after the Reagan Administration lodged a protest with Israel over Sella’s promotion to commander of Israel’s second-largest air base.

The Justice Department notified Sella last month that he faced criminal indictment and said it was moving to strip three other Israelis implicated in the ring of their immunity from prosecution because of suspicions about their testimony in the Pollard case.

It was not clear whether prosecutors would later seek indictments against the other three: Rafael Eitan, a former Israeli intelligence chief; Josef Yagur, a former science counsel at Israel’s New York consulate; and Irit Erb, a former secretary at the Israeli Embassy.