Aviem Sella

Aviem Sella (אביאם סלע, born January 7, 1946) is a former colonel in the Israeli Air Force.

Aviem Sella (originally Slibiosiky), was born in Haifa during the Mandate era. He studied at the Hebrew Reali School, and began his national service in the Israel Defense Forces in 1963, joining the Israeli Air Force as a fighter pilot. In 1967, he fought in the Six-Day War with 109 Squadron. He was one of the first Israeli pilots to fly F-4 Phantom jets, and was also one of the founders of 69 Squadron. He fought in the War of Attrition, participating in Operation Priha. At the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, Sella was in the United States studying at a professional course, but returned to Israel and fought in the war as deputy commander of 69 Squadron. Between 1976 and 1979, he commanded a fighter squadron, and between 1980 and 1983, he was the Air Force's Director of Operations. He commanded Operation Opera, the air strike against the Iraqi Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981, and was a commanding officer in Operation Mole Cricket 19 during the 1982 Lebanon War.

Sella was later sent to study in the United States, and earned a master's degree in information systems at New York University's Faculty of Computer Applications and Information Systems. While pursuing a PhD, Sella recruited Jonathan Pollard to spy for Israel. Pollard was indicted on espionage charges in 1987.

Pollard's Israeli handlers were granted immunity from prosecution in the United States in exchange for cooperation after Pollard's arrest. Sella's role, however, was unknown at the time and the Israelis were not forthcoming about his involvement. For this reason, Sella was not given immunity by the US when his role was uncovered. Israel then refused to extradite Sella for questioning. In March 1987, Sella was indicted in absentia in Federal court on three counts of espionage, facing a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a $500,000 fine.

After Sella was promoted to Brigadier General and given command of Tel Nof Airbase, and the U.S. Congress reacted by threatening to cut aid to Israel. U.S. officials in Israel were instructed to have no contact with Sella, or with the airbase so long as he commanded it. Israel refused to relieve him of his duties, creating tensions. Sella then resigned to defuse US-Israel tensions, and was subsequently appointed an instructor at Israel's National Security College.

Sella finished his doctorate at Tel Aviv University's Business School and earned a degree in economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He later started "Sibm", an IT company, which acted as a consultant on information systems. In 2003, he sold his company, which had 40 employees, to Matrix ID Ltd, but continued to work for Matrix as director of strategic consulting at Matrix's Security Division.