Did you know: Aldrich Ames, not Jonathan Pollard, got American assets killed.
Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, spent 30 years in jail for spying for Israel. His actions have cast suspicion on all American Jews for many years, but some details behind the scenes are not well known.
According to Rafi Eitan, his handler, Pollard was thrown under the bus by Aldrich Ames, who used his position in CIA counter-intelligence to shift the blame for his own lethal betrayals onto Pollard.
This characterization has been proven true.
In fact, Ames’ betrayal led to Russia executing numerous U.S. spies.
The CIA itself confirmed that Pollard’s disclosures focused on Arab militaries and Soviet arms, not U.S. human assets. Crucially, Israel never asked for this information.
Basis: In December 2012, the 1987 CIA “Damage Assessment” memo was declassified.
The report confirmed that Pollard’s handlers specifically requested information on:
- Arab and Pakistani nuclear programs.
- Soviet air defense systems and exotic weaponry.
- Soviet arms shipments to Syria and Iraq.
The Israelis did not seek—and Pollard did not provide—the identities of U.S. human sources.
Rather, the deaths of U.S. spies in Moscow were the direct result of Aldrich Ames’ actions, as well as those of Russia’s FBI mole Robert Hanssen. (They did not work together.)
Former CIA Director James Woolsey has stated that if the truth about Ames had been known in 1987, Pollard would not have received a life sentence.
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, whose assessment played a role in Pollard’s sentence, later admitted the case was “comparatively minor.”
Written with the help of Grok and Gemini AI based on an item in Jewish News 24. Image adapted by Gemini.
Writing by Dr. Dannielle Blumenthal 