Israel probes efforts to free spy in US jail
JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel has begun investigating official efforts to get the United States to free Jonathan Pollard, a US Jew serving a life sentence for spying, the Yediot Aharonot daily reported on Wednesday..
The investigation, sought by the Israeli parliament, has stirred controversy over whether it could harm attempts to secure Pollard's release, something which Israel has repeatedly requested.
Pollard, a US-born Jew who has taken Israeli citizenship while in prison, passed thousands of secret documents about US spy activities in the Arab world to Israel between May 1984 and his arrest in November 1985.
State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss, who leads the probe, has scheduled meetings with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his predecessors, Ehud Barak -- now defence minister -- and Benjamin Netanyahu.
"This is a scandalous decision," the daily quoted a senior defence ministry official as saying of the investigation.
"Only a country that has gone crazy is prepared to give such a sensitive subject to be examined by the state comptroller, who acts like a bull in a china shop on a subject that is not at all under his purview," the unnamed official said.
The controversy over Pollard has long been a thorn in the side of relations with the United States, Israel's main ally.
When he was found out, Pollard sought the protection of the Israeli embassy in Washington, but was refused access and later arrested by the FBI.
