U.S. Tells Dismay in Israel Spy Case : Deputy Premier Says Jerusalem Has Apologized

JERUSALEM —  A senior Israeli government official said Friday that his country has already apologized to the United States over the case of Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan J. Pollard, accused of selling defense secrets to Israel, and he called on Washington to “bring it to a conclusion.”

In an interview with ITIM, the domestic news agency, Deputy Prime Minister David Levy also called on the Reagan Administration to give the American public “a balanced picture” of the affair, which he insisted had “in no way” harmed American interests or security.

Levy’s comments reflected a combination of concern and anger here over growing American and domestic criticism of Israel’s handling of the incident.

U.S. Spying Charged

Israeli pique was also clear Friday in charges by the press and, privately, by defense sources, that there have been frequent cases of U.S. spying here. In contrast to U.S. behavior in the Pollard affair, these sources said, Israel handled those cases discreetly.

U. S. officials have charged that Jerusalem is failing to live up to promises that it would cooperate fully with an FBI investigation into the case. Domestically, the government faces accusations that it is doing even more damage to itself by failing to give a full accounting of the Pollard affair.

“Our situation is not so good and the sooner we do something the better,” said one Israeli official who is unhappy about continued government silence.

“Damage control has suddenly and shockingly become the principal purpose of the Israel government in its relationship with the United States,” the English-language Jerusalem Post said in an editorial Friday.

Derelict or Reckless

Calling the affair an “intelligence debacle,” the Post added: “Either the elected officials, from the prime minister down . . . did not know what was happening, in which case they were horrendously derelict, or they did know, and in that case were horrendously reckless.”

In the government’s only official and substantive statement on the incident to date, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said last Sunday that “Israel’s political leadership received with shock and consternation” the reports that Pollard had been arrested outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington three days earlier and accused of espionage.

The ministry did not admit any Israeli involvement but said that authorities were investigating the affair and promised that, if they found any “deviation” from a longstanding policy against such intelligence gathering in the United States, “the necessary conclusions will be drawn.” The government has not made any further public statements on grounds that the investigation is still under way.

Credibility Strained

That position increasingly strains credibility, the independent newspaper Maariv said in an editorial Thursday afternoon.

“If such a claim is maintained for another 24 hours, the charge will be raised that the government is covering up and whitewashing,” the newspaper said.

Twenty-four hours later, government spokesmen were saying a public accounting is unlikely until Sunday at the earliest.

Al Hamishmar, a leftist newspaper, commented: “Whoever thinks that American public opinion will settle for dubious Israeli mumblings as a response to the disclosures of the court case is totally unfamiliar with the Americans in general and with their attitude toward this incident.”

Levy’s statement Friday was the first official mention of any apology to the United States. He did not make clear when such an apology was tendered, but he added that Israel “is making an effort to investigate the affair and prevent its recurrence.”

Will Discuss Question

Levy also told the news agency that the question of returning to the United States any stolen documents passed to Israel by Pollard “would be discussed in the near future.”

Government spokesmen refused to comment on Israeli press reports that the government will allow U.S. officials to interview two Israeli diplomats recalled from the United States after the outbreak of the Pollard case. The reports said that while no formal interrogation would be allowed, FBI agents would be permitted to talk to the pair, whose hasty departure angered U.S. investigators.

Such permission would amount to what one source here called an “unprecedented” compromise of diplomatic immunity.

Faced with mounting U.S. criticism over the spy affair, some Israeli sources took the offensive.

U.S. ‘Doing the Same’

“Let me tell you something,” said one government official who requested anonymity. “On the one hand, we know the Americans are doing the same here. We know it--we don’t have to beat around the bush.

“Secondly, things like this happen, and will happen, all the time,” the source continued. “Even between a (married) couple somebody is cheating the other one, and the relationship between a couple is stronger than between countries. . . . So I don’t know why people are pulling it and pushing it unless they have some reason for it.”

A defense source said: “Look at the sea of antennas on top of the American embassy (in Tel Aviv). All of them certainly are not to transfer regular diplomatic messages.”

The Israeli press has reported “at least” five instances in which U.S. espionage attempts against Israel were discovered. Foreign Ministry officials have refused to confirm or deny the reports.