Quietly whispered in the hallways it is said that our ultimate spy was sacrificed by the establishment. He knew too much, he would return to Israel popular, powerful, untouchable. His arrival would create political complications that would cause upheavals in the corridors of power.

The rumors say that in the end he wasn’t caught and jailed by accident, but that “those in power” in Israel purposely exposed him to those in whose military heart he was so deeply embedded.


Jonathan Pollard?

No, but you would think so.

Actually, in Sephardic homes across the country this is the unspoken, but understood truth about Eli Cohen and his capture.

Eli Cohen, the non-Ashkenazi spy whose return to Israel would send the embedded Ashkenazi control of the spy establishment into a tailspin. The risk was too great that someone who wasn’t ‘one-of-them’ might be in a political position to take control - so he was exposed.

Why do I mention this?

Well, let me ask you in return, why did you immediately think Jonathan Pollard?

Is it possible that our agents abroad are being sacrificed cheaply after achieving so much?

Last weekend’s Makor Rishon reported that Rafi Eitan, the head of the Pensioner’s party, new Knesset member, potential government minister, and former operator of Jonathan Pollard allegedly said that if he had been there when Pollard came in from the cold he would have put a bullet through Pollard’s head right there and then rather then get Israel embrangled in a political mess.

At some point Pollard has said (or implied) that Eitan demanded that Pollard supply him with U.S. information on various Israeli government ministers, presumably for the purpose of blackmailing them or at least political gain (what other use is there for that kind of information) - Pollard, of course, refused to supply political information and continued to only supply military information he felt was necessary for Israel’s survival.

We know how shabbily the Israeli government has treated Jonathan Pollard. Is this the immoral attitude that the Israeli government has towards its agents, looking at them as mere assets to be thrown to the dogs when they become political or personal liabilities?

Is this the attitude we want for a minister in the State of Israel? Someone who could put a bullet in the head of an agent, a hero, because it might cause someone some political or personal damage?

I’m not into conspiracy theories but during the Iran-Contra affair you might recall that an airplane crashed with an Israeli in it.

Look up the story, and based on what I said above, think about how the Israeli government chooses to 'clean up' its messes, mistakes, and heroes, and then remember Gush Katif.

Is there a connection?