---
updated: 2026-10-12
category: "Military"
tags:
  - Person
  - Military
  - Israel
summary: "Amos Lapidot was commander of the Israeli Air Force when Aviem Sella took leave to run Jonathan Pollard, and the Israeli inquiries criticized him for it."
born: 1934
died: 2019-11-20
location: "Kfar Saba, Israel"
---

Amos Lapidot was commander of the Israeli Air Force. According to [[Seymour Hersh]], he assured [[Aviem Sella]] that [[Jonathan Pollard]] was not a rogue and that clearance for Sella's new assignment as Pollard's handler had been obtained from [[Yitzhak Rabin]], the minister of defense.[^1] The [[Washington Post]] reported in May 1987 that the Israeli inquiries criticized Sella's superiors, Army Chief of Staff [[Moshe Levy]] and Air Force Commander Lapidot, for allowing Sella leave to take part in what they surmised was a sensitive espionage mission.[^2]

### Footnotes

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 21.
[^2]: Glenn Frankel, "Israeli Spy Probes Fault Leadership," *Washington Post*, May 27, 1987. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp90-00965r000302080002-0