New York – In about two weeks, in the Oval Office at the White House, the US president will end his meeting with Israel’s prime minister. Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu will get up from their seats, straighten up their ties, and prepare to head towards the journalists waiting for them outside.
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“Oh,” Netanyahu will then turn to Obama, seconds before leaving the room. “Oh,” he will mutter, “with regards to Mr. Pollard…”
Obama will place his arm on Netanyahu’s shoulder. The president will have been briefed about the Pollard affair before the prime minister’s arrival. “We’ll take it into consideration,” Obama will say, and the two leaders will head to the cameras. Netanyahu will know that he did the minimum he had to do and brought up the painful affair with the president. The President will also do what he had to do. After all, he said what he had to say.
Jonathan Pollard has been imprisoned in the US for 26 years now; plenty of time based on any criteria. The Navy intelligence officer spied for Israel, was caught, and was sentenced to a life term. He is expected to be released, maybe, in four years.
I wrote “maybe,” because this also depends on the State of Israel’s conduct and the behavior of some Israelis. Should the US continue to be dissatisfied with the conduct of Israel and some Israelis, Pollard will come out of prison on a stretcher, covered with a sheet. It’s terrible to say it, write it, and think that way.
Pollard belongs to an era where Israel believed it was the queen of the world and had the right to do whatever it wished. He caused grave damage to the US, to America’s intelligence agencies, and to US national security. In the eyes of the Americans, and certainly those entrusted with safeguarding America’s security and secrets, he is a traitor, criminal, and a scumbag. In another era, he would have gotten the electric chair. The US establishment despises him.
The greatest Jew of all
And what do Israelis do? Our governments (mostly rightist governments, and rightist Israelis) turned Pollard into a national hero; a brother and savior, the greatest Jew of all. They granted him Israeli citizenship, created a lobby in parliament, and spoke about him at the Knesset and in the cabinet. Prime ministers and ministers (mostly from the Right) spoke wonders about Pollard, making him a national hero in Israel.
Well, the Americans entrusted with the Pollard issue are telling themselves, and also telling some Israelis: A despicable spy who harmed us and exposed our secrets is a national hero in your view? The Jewish God’s deputy? Okay, we’ll show you how it works! Your national hero (they don’t say it out loud, merely hint) will get out of here only on a stretcher, covered by a sheet.
“You’re unfair,” Israeli rightists tell the Americans. “Much more dangerous spies have already been released.”
“Indeed,” reply the Americans. “Yet they weren’t and will not be national heroes.”
The right path in the past 26 years should have been to present Pollard as small fry, a smalltime criminal, and a man who didn’t do anything significant. We should have explained the affair was “a mishap that will not be repeated.” Then, his fate would be the same as that of tens of thousands of criminals, including spies, who were released from prison in the last generation. We could have postponed the celebrations.
Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, is very much an American, and he is well familiar with the psyche and way of thinking of his countrymen. Last week, purposely or not, he portrayed Pollard’s masters as members of a “rogue organization in the Israeli intelligence community.” Even if he did not think this through, it was the right thing to say.
However, around here, our national erection works overtime, and Oren was reprimanded by his masters, an Israeli government that is still willing to return Hebron to the Palestinians in exchange for Pollard’s release.
About 20 years ago, a Likud minister initiated a journey of support to Pollard’s jail cell; this also served as a photo opportunity for Likud primaries candidates. Each such photograph prominently published in Israel got the Likud candidate into the Knesset, and kept Pollard in prison for a few more years. Everyone gained at his expense.
Pollard serves many people in Israel as a source of national pride, and a great hero; should this continue, everyone will rush to get photographed with him even next to the stretcher with the sheet.
At a time where there are so may critical issues confronting the U.S. relationship with EY and such matters as the Iran nuclear program, Gaza, etc., to even raise the Pollard issue is absurd. All it does is to remind those in the military and state depart ments who are not big friends of EY to begin with that Israel cannot be trusted and kept a arms length. Our priorities now must be on the larger issues and not on one individual whose cases raises serious issues even with many American jews on the issued of mixed loyalties.
The article is way off base. Pollard was a spy for my country the USA. He deserved a normal lengthy sentence for being a traitor irrespective if it was for a friendly country. The reason he became a hero is because of what happened regarding his sentence. pollard never had a trial but plea bargained with a normal sentence expected as with others. Caspar Weinberger , the famed Sec, of State and apostate wrote the court a confidentially memo “that he should never see the light of day because he spied for Israel”rouges or not! The appeals for Pollard did not succeed because his attorneys missed
the time limit to file his appeal. because of that he is still languishing in jail. Pollard became a hero
because the Israeli establishment did nothing to help him in these circumstances. That is what the
whole SMR issue is about. Not that SMR guilt is questioned, but his treatment during the trial and the severe sentence he received taking into acct, similar crimes committed by others and the sentences they received. No one has questioned either of their guilty verdicts. Their unfair treatment is what made their plight a rallying cause.
Nobody got such a bad sentence, even for. spying for a anamy,
when you spy and transfer information from one country to another life in not outrageous. While I feel bad for him, he must have known if caught all bets are off.
Stupid move by Israel from beginning to end, to spy on the US who has supported them from the year one
It also keeps Pollard’s supposed American suppotrers in business. Now some of the above have gone on to help Rubashkin from the start. The last thing someone who is in trouble with the law needs is the help of these people. Their meddling is guaranted to add 10 to 20 years to one’s sentence.
#7 – Anonymous
Mr. Weinberger was indeed a Jew;he converted as an adult.
If not him iraq would have a nuclear power. then what would happen when u.s.a. went in to iraq?
#9 has got a point. IMO Rubashkin got such a long sentence in part because of the attempts to pressure the court. They had no alternative but to be severe because otherwise they would have been perceived as caving in to pressure from East Coast types – and Midwesterners hate nothing more than being pushed around by Easterners. This isn’t anyti-Semitism, it’s based on geography and cultural differences. Without all the publicity, accusations of anti-Semitism, etc. he might have gotten off with ten or fifteen years. Now, he’ll be lucky to get regular parole.
Pollard may have been suffering from the same “help.” Trying to act as if we have special privileges usually backfires.
I agree with everything written here. If Pollard, a spy and disgrace to Israel and all Jewish Americans, were to be released from prison there would be Orthodox organizations, such as NCYI, that would need to find a new platform. I find it sad that there is no such outrage and uproar for Gilad Shalit as there is for this and other Jewish and some so called “frum” criminals, I guess this just continues the frum communities mantra of “I never met a criminal I didn’t like”. If we were to focus our energies on a cause that we might have a shot at helping it would be better for all involved parties. Stop the Chillul Hashem Now..
I will never spy for israel, maybe for russia
Pollard deserves his freedom! Nobody has a right to judge him. He is a Jew suffering in prison. No Jew should be in prison. Especially for so called “crimes” that are not dangerous or murderous. Torah does not advocate prison, we should not either.
Let him rot. He is a traitor and does not deserve any consideration, Jewish or not. Let him do his full term and if deemed so, he will be released, and if not…not.
Tell that to Hoenlein and Pesach Lerner. LOL
He has got, according to the newspapers, a top notch chavrusah to lear from or with: Bernie the lowlife madeoff with other’s money
if it would have been that simple president bush would have done more there must be more to the story then we know
becoming frum is not a all cure its part of the master plan
No one has ever made Pollard into the Greatest Hero ever, we always admitted that he was smallfry,, and serving an extended and unreasonable sentence.. Ridiculous assumptions made in this article.
Eitan Haber is “the queen” here; make no mistake.