Seven months after Aviem Sella received a full pardon for his involvement in the Pollard case and over 30 years since he was supposed to be promoted to brigadier-general, he finally received the rank.
The decision to promote Sella, a former Israel Air Force colonel, was made on the recommendation of IAF Commander Maj.-Gen. Amikam Norkin and approved by IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi and Defense Minister Benny Gantz.
Sella was appointed to the position of Tel Nof Air Force Base commander in February 1987 and promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. But he did not actually receive the rank then, as shortly afterward he left the military, after he was indicted by a US federal grand jury in March 1987 on three counts of espionage for recruiting Jonathan Pollard to collect US military secrets for Israel.
Pollard offered his services to Sella when they met at a lecture while Sella was studying for a PhD at New York University. After Pollard’s arrest, Sella fled to Israel, and Israel refused to extradite him to the US.
Pollard’s Israeli handlers were granted immunity from prosecution in the US in exchange for cooperation after Pollard’s arrest. But because Sella’s role was unknown at the time, he was not given immunity. His indictment carried a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a $500,000 fine.
The same week of his indictment, Israel angered the US by promoting Sella to brigadier-general and commander of the Tel Nof Air Force Base. Washington then issued a letter barring visiting US delegations from having any contact with him.
Sella was discharged from the IDF in 1992 with the rank of colonel.
Before that, he had a celebrated career in the air force and became one of Israel’s most decorated pilots. He flew Phantom jets in many key battles, including the historic air battle during the War of Attrition between American-made jets and Soviet-era MiG-21s.
He was the head of Air Force Operations during the First Lebanon War, planning Operation Mole Cricket 19, in which the IAF destroyed Soviet-made Syrian surface-to-air missile batteries in the Bekaa Valley. He was also the commander responsible for planning Operation Opera, which saw the destruction of the Osirak nuclear reactor outside of Baghdad in 1981.
Sella’s pardon was one of 73 granted by former US president Donald Trump hours before he left office.
Pollard and his wife, Esther, told The Jerusalem Post that they “were delighted to learn of Aviem Sella’s promotion to brigadier-general.”
“We wish him mazal tov and best of luck,” they said.