After the initial shock of the blaring headlines wore off, Israelis were asking tough questions about the motivations of the United States for dredging up a case that effectively should have been dealt with 23 years ago? If indeed the Israeli handler of spy Ben-Ami Kadish was the same as the one who managed convicted agent Jonathan Pollard, why did the Americans wait till now -- when the alleged spy is an 84 year old man in a retirement home -- to make charges that could in theory justify a death sentence?
Kadish was arraigned in New York on four espionage counts, but he was released to his retirement home after his passport was confiscated and he gave a $300,000 property bond.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Aryeh Mekel, one of the few government officials allowed to talk about the issue on the record, said Israel was not "specifically relating to this incident" and emphasized that the alleged events happened in the early 1980s.
"Since 1985, there has been strict adherence to the prime ministers' instructions against involvement in these kinds of activities," Mekel said, referring to an Israeli promise to the US after the Pollard affair. The relationship between Israel and the United States has always been based upon true friendship, respect and a recognition of mutual interests".
Trying to distance itself from the whole affair, the Prime Minister's Office continued on Wednesday to refer all queries on the matter to the Foreign Ministry.
Israel was formally informed of the charges on Tuesday as its second-ranking diplomat in Washington, Jeremy Issacharoff, was summoned into the State Department and informed of the matter. Israeli ambassador to the US, Sallai Meridor, is on a Pessah holiday. Foreign Ministry officials said they were unaware of any US official coming to Israel to discuss the matter.
But many Israelis speculated that the timing of the arrest could not coincidental and was timed either to weaken Israel's support in the US in advance of diplomatic arm-twisting on the "peace process", and/or to prevent Bush from granting Pollard clemency before he leaves office in January 2009.
But the Israelis lucked out on one score: The issue was overshadowed in the US by the Democratic primaries in Pennsylvania. The story was relegated to the Metro section of The New York Times, to page 19 of The Washington Post and way down the line-up on evening news programs.
One Israeli official said hopefully that people realized that the alleged crimes happened a generation ago and that Kadish had been released on a $300,000 property bond - an indication that the US did not judge him to be a security threat or even a major crimiinal.
In addition, the FBI admitted that Kadish was not even paid for his services. He accepted only small gifts and occasional family dinners in exchange for his services, the FBI admitted.
"The best thing Israel could do at this point," one government official said, "is to say as little about the incident as possible."
But pundits and consultants were not taking the official's advice.
Lenny Ben-David, a former Israeli diplomat and now a crisis consultant, wrote a piece titled "Why is zayde being busted for spying 25 years ago?"
Ben-David notes that Kadish not only helped Israel's pre-state Hagana: he also served in both the British and American military during World War II, as an ex-commander of the local Jewish War Veterans Post, helped raised funds for disabled veterans.
Ben-David suggests that "Kadish is being used by American officials as a means to loosen support for Israel as the two countries enter a tenacious period of negotiations. This is a pattern of American pressure that repeats itself. The tactic is geared to embarrass American supporters of Israel, particularly congress members who oppose weapons sales to Israel's foes, dangerous concessions to the Palestinians, or the abrogation of previous commitments to Israel."
Specifically, Ben-David assets, the case against Kadish reflects "the impatience of the US Secretary of State with Israel's decision to continue building in Jerusalem and in settlement blocs and to retain security roadblocks. To push ahead in the illusionary Annapolis process at all costs, the State Department must de-emphasize President George Bush's letter to Prime Minister Sharon stating that it is "unrealistic" to seek a "full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949." With Bush on his way to Israel to celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary, what better way to deflate the goodwill and cut down the gifts the President is supposedly bringing?"
"Lastly, in the twilight of the Bush administration, a presidential pardon for Jonathan Pollard is again being discussed, at least by Jewish and Israeli sources. Disclosure of another Pollard-like spy would be an effective tool to keep Pollard locked up for good."
US commentator Gail Winston connected the arrest with the concurrent news about Olmert's readiness to abandon the entire Golan Heights to Syria and to cut Jerusalem in half. She called it "a well-planned exercise in pressure to get Israel to bend til she breaks on all issues demanded by President George W. Bush before he leaves office. That includes abandoning the Golan, with most of Israel's fresh water resource, surrendering Judea and Samaria to the Muslim Arab Palestinians as their second Palestinian State - then cutting off more than half of Jerusalem, the ancient, eternal Capital only of the Jewish people as if Jerusalem was a human sacrifice - to become the capital of the Muslim state."
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