In April, Netanyahu and Clinton met for a “private visit.” On a Saturday in May 1997, Clinton again had Currie invite Lewinsky to the White House. During that visit, he broke up with her, Lewinsky testified. The next fall, Clinton hosted Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for a summit at Wye River, Maryland.

Toward the end of the summit, at 7 a.m. after a long night of final negotiations and handshakes, Netanyahu approached Clinton privately to demand the release of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, long a cause célèbre of the Israeli far right, according to reporting from the New York Times. Netanyahu brought up the sex tapes in the context of the Pollard demand,

Washington Examiner editor Daniel Harper wrote in his book “Clinton Inc: The Audacious Rebuilding of a Political Machine.” “Not wanting to directly threaten the powerful American president, a crucial Israeli ally, Clinton was told that the Israeli government had thrown the tapes away. But the very mention of them was enough to constitute a form of blackmail,” Halper reported.

The talks almost broke down as CIA chief George Tenet told Clinton he would resign on the spot if Clinton agreed to the terms. Instead, Clinton agreed to “review” Pollard’s case. He did not release him. Pollard was eventually released in 2015 under the Obama administration. On the last day of his first term, Trump pardoned Pollard’s handler. Back in Israel, Pollard is an outspoken supporter of extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and has called for the full ethnic cleansing of Gaza.