I have no idea about the particular quirk that makes them so enraged at Pollard; what matters is that they are. Whenever it is proposed, they always send in their heaviest hitters, whoever has most pull in Washington, so it is no joke.
I would guess that whatever he did, it was a lot worse than what he was punished for; but both the US and Israel will not publicly say what that was.
Importantly, this would not be a first. In past, Israel has carried out some staggering espionage operations in the US that were so extraordinary that they were hushed up by both sides, such as the theft of nuclear weapons klystrons; and the enigmatic, but large scale effort by Israeli “art students” to penetrate the US DEA.
In the klystron case, it was a brilliant operation, and the unnamed man who was the ringleader was captured and sentenced to life in prison in an almost secret trial, after he plead guilty. This was not done casually, as it was a key element to the entire Israeli nuclear program.
In any event, I still think that, for whatever reason, the US intelligence community will again be adamant about Pollard.
Thank you for the explanation and heads-up. You clearly know more about this than I do. Hell, I have no idea what a klystron is.
However, when one considers that Bill Clinton permitted the give-away of missile tech to the ChiComs without spending so much as one hour in prison, it makes whatever Pollard did begin to assume less than mythical proportions.
Okay: I will say it: The CIA, etc, is riddled with anti-Semitism. I find some Jews loathsome, to be sure, but i certainly do not hate Jews in general, no do I hate Israel. Our spooks seem to be eaten up with hatred for Jews and Israel. (Probably makes them stupid, too.)
i may be wrong, but... somehow I doubt it. ;-)