Israeli agent: Soviet mole framed Pollard

March 2, 2006 - United Press International

TEL AVIV, Israel

-- A former agent for Israel's intelligence service says that convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard was framed by a Soviet agent.

Ravi Eitan told Ynetnews.com that Pollard, a former U.S. Navy intelligence officer, did pass on information to Israel. But he said that claims that Pollard exposed the identities of 11 CIA agents were responsible for the life sentence in a U.S. prison he received and were fabricated by Aldrich Ames, a CIA officer who was working for the Soviet Union.

"I'm willing to put my hand in fire and swear in everything dear to me that those charges are a blatant lie," Eitan said. "Nothing from what Pollard delivered leaked out of the Israeli intelligence community, nothing. Besides, he never provided us with information that could have exposed American agents in the Soviet Union or anywhere else."

Eitan, who worked for Israeli intelligence for many years, said that he has an obligation to be open about his past because he is now in politics as head of the Pensioners Party