The American Ban On Pollard’s Aliyah

The following English video is self-explanatory, by Rabbi Sholom Gold, who has been living in Yerushalayim for the past decades.

Rabbi Gold speaks of how Jonathan Pollard is the only Jew in the US banned from making aliyah. ” I call on President Trump in light of his forthcoming visit to Israel that he pardon Jonathan Pollard completely and bring him here to Israel with him” says Rabbi Gold.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

One Freed Cuban Murdered An American If Pres. Obama Can Free 3 Cuban Spies, He Must Free Jonathan Pollard

NEW YORK, December 18, 2014 --- The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is strongly declaring that President Barack Obama, who has this week freed three convicted spies who spied for an enemy regime, Cuba, must free Jonathan Pollard, who spied for an American ally, Israel. 

The ZOA further notes that one of the convicted spies freed by President Obama was responsible for the murder of an American citizen and that all three have served only 13 years for their crimes on behalf of an enemy state, whereas Jonathan Pollard has been imprisoned for 29 years for spying for an American ally.

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, "It is remarkable that President Obama, who has been repeatedly urged by U.S. officials who held responsibility at the time for national security and intelligence matters to free Jonathan Pollard, has refused to do so.

"Conversely, he has shown himself, this week, to be willing to free three convicted men who spied for a long-term enemy state, Cuba, including one man who was responsible for death of an American national. Where is the logic and justice in that?

"Jonathan Pollard passed on classified information to Israel, a U.S. ally, not a U.S. enemy. There was, thus, no treason involved. Pollard pled guilty to the charges and apologized for his crimes. His crimes did not lead to the death of Americans, as was once claimed, but rather the espionage activities of Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen, whose actions came to light only after the Pollard sentencing, were shown to be responsible for those results.  

"Despite, having pled guilty as part of a plea bargain, Pollard was shown no leniency and was given the maximum sentence, comparable to that of Aldrich Ames, the chief of CIA counterintelligence in Eastern Europe, who passed critical defense secrets to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and was found responsible for the deaths of at least 11 U.S. agents! 

"A host of senior past high U.S. government officials with responsibility for relevant national security, international and legal affairs, such as former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George P. Schultz, former CIA Director R. James Woolsey, former National Security Advisor Robert C. "Bud" McFarlane, former Assistant Secretary for Defense Lawrence J. Korb, former Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams, former Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman David Durenberger, former Deputy Attorney General Philip Heymann; former White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum, former Senate Judiciary Committee Member, Dennis DeConcini, and former U.S. Ambassadors to Israel Samuel Lewis and Thomas Pickering, have all publicly and in writing stated that Jonathan Pollard's sentence has been disproportionate and urged President Obama to pardon him.

"Jonathan Pollard has already served nearly three decades behind bars, which is by far the harshest sentence ever meted out for the offense he committed -- the average term for which is a fine or two to four years' imprisonment.

"If President Obama can free three spies for a hostile state like Cuba, including a murderer, he can certainly pardon Jonathan Pollard. He should do so without further delay."

This article was published by ZOA and may be found here.

Jonathan Pollard - interview with Caroline Glick

8 SENIOR U.S. OFFICIALS SLAM “UNJUST DENIAL OF PAROLE TO POLLARD” Letter to Obama reveals false charge against Pollard used to deny parole

As Jonathan Pollard enters his 30th year of a life sentence this week (on Friday, November 21) breaking news that the U.S. administration has prevented the release of Jonathan Pollard on parole prompted eight former senior U.S. officials to make public a copy of their letter to President Obama which strongly protests “the unjust denial of parole to Jonathan Pollard,” and reveals that the U.S. Government used a false charge against Pollard to deny him parole.

The letter was signed exclusively by those officials who have first-hand knowledge of the case and who are fully familiar with the classified file. They include:

Amb. R. James Woolsey - Former Director of the CIA

Senator Dennis DeConcini - Former Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee

Senator David F. Durenburger - Former Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee

Robert C. MacFarlane - Former U.S. National Security Advisor

Lawrence J. Korb - Former Assistant U.S. Secretary of Defense

Prof. Angelo Codevilla - Former Senate Intelligence Committee Staff

Congressman Lee Hamilton - Department of Homeland Security Advisor to President Obama and Former Chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence

Bernard W. Nussbaum - Former White House Counsel

The letter strongly criticizes the parole process as “deeply flawed” and declares that “[t]he Parole Commission Decision document mischaracterizes Mr. Pollard’s actions and makes a patently false claim upon which it bases its denial of parole.”

The letter explains that the “patently false claim” is the U.S. government’s allegation that “Mr. Pollard’s espionage was the greatest compromise of US security to that date.” This claim, say the officials, “is false and is not supported by any evidence in the public record or the classified file.” They note that nevertheless this “fiction” was the reason given by the Parole Commission for denying parole.

The officials further note that at hearing, the U.S. government relied heavily on the 28-year-old discredited Weinberger document, which Pollard’s security-cleared attorneys were denied access to, and which the Parole Commission was not cleared to review. The Commission was aware, they write, that in 2002, Weinberger himself had discounted the document as politically motivated.

They also point out that the Commission ignored a wealth of documentary evidence which mitigated in favor of Pollard’s release; and that the Commission also ignored all of the recommendations by top level officials with first-hand knowledge of the case, which call for his unconditional release (parole is conditional).

They express dismay at the fact that the Commission also ignored all compassionate grounds for Pollard’s release, and ignored Pollard’s record as a model prisoner for 3 decades.

The parole process now joins the long list of failed legal processes that have denied justice to Jonathan Pollard for nearly 3 decades. The officials note that it is clearly for cases like this that the U.S. Constitution grants the president virtually unlimited powers of clemency.

The letter to Obama concludes with a severe admonition and calls for the immediate commutation of Pollard’s sentence to time served:

“Denying a man his freedom based on a claim of damage that is patently false while ignoring exculpatory documentary evidence and hiding behind a veil of secret evidence is neither fair nor just nor is it the American way...We urge you to act expeditiously to commute Mr. Pollard’s life sentence to the 29 years which he has already served.”

A copy of the letter is attached (PDF) and the text follows below:

President Barack H. Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20500

November 14, 2014

Dear Mr. President:

Re: Unjust Denial of Parole for Jonathan Pollard

We, the undersigned, in our official US government capacities, at the time of and subsequent to Jonathan Pollard’s arrest, are fully familiar with the Pollard file and with its classified contents.

We write to protest the unjust parole process which on August 4, 2014 denied parole to Jonathan Pollard after 29 years in prison. Our review of the Parole Commission decision compels our strongest objections to the conclusions of the Commission and our dismay with the deeply flawed process.

The Parole Commission decision document mischaracterizes Mr. Pollard’s actions and makes a patently false claim upon which it bases its denial of parole.

The Commission’s allegation that Mr. Pollard’s espionage “was the greatest compromise of US security to that date” is false; and not supported by any evidence in the public record or the classified file. Yet it was this fiction that the Parole Commission cited to deny parole.

We have learned that at the parole hearing, the government relied heavily on a stale, largely discredited, 28-year old classified memorandum written by former Secretary of Defense, Casper Weinberger, without any scrutiny or rebuttal since Pollard’s security-cleared attorneys were denied access to the document and the Parole Commission is not cleared to review it. Mr. Weinberger himself discounted his original damage assessment of the Pollard case in a 2002 interview when he stated that the Pollard case had been exaggerated out of all proportion and that it was in fact “a very minor matter but made very important.”

The unreliability of the 1987 Weinberger document was known to and ignored by the Parole Commission. Worse, the Parole Commission ignored all other documentary evidence that mitigates in favor of Mr. Pollard’s immediate release.

As we have indicated in previous communications to you, Mr. President, Jonathan Pollard’s sentence is grossly disproportionate. All factors considered, including his comportment as a model prisoner for nearly three decades, Mr. Pollard’s unconditional release (let alone his release on parole, which does not address the disproportionality of his sentence) is long overdue. Copies of our previous letters to you, urging Mr. Pollard’s release were included in his parole submission and ignored.

We would like to point out as well, that the Parole decision document notes Mr. Pollard’s Salient Factor Score, indicating his suitability for release as “10” which is the highest score possible. This too was ignored.

We, the undersigned, in our official US government capacities, at the time of and subsequent to Jonathan Pollard’s arrest, are fully familiar with the Pollard file and with its classified contents.

We write to protest the unjust parole process which on August 4, 2014 denied parole to Jonathan Pollard after 29 years in prison. Our review of the Parole Commission decision compels our strongest objections to the conclusions of the Commission and our dismay with the deeply flawed process.

The Parole Commission decision document mischaracterizes Mr. Pollard’s actions and makes a patently false claim upon which it bases its denial of parole.

The Commission’s allegation that Mr. Pollard’s espionage “was the greatest compromise of US security to that date” is false; and not supported by any evidence in the public record or the classified file. Yet it was this fiction that the Parole Commission cited to deny parole.

We have learned that at the parole hearing, the government relied heavily on a stale, largely discredited, 28-year old classified memorandum written by former Secretary of Defense, Casper Weinberger, without any scrutiny or rebuttal since Pollard’s security-cleared attorneys were denied access to the document and the Parole Commission is not cleared to review it. Mr. Weinberger himself discounted his original damage assessment of the Pollard case in a 2002 interview when he stated that the Pollard case had been exaggerated out of all proportion and that it was in fact “a very minor matter but made very important.”

The unreliability of the 1987 Weinberger document was known to and ignored by the Parole Commission. Worse, the Parole Commission ignored all other documentary evidence that mitigates in favor of Mr. Pollard’s immediate release.

As we have indicated in previous communications to you, Mr. President, Jonathan Pollard’s sentence is grossly disproportionate. All factors considered, including his comportment as a model prisoner for nearly three decades, Mr. Pollard’s unconditional release (let alone his release on parole, which does not address the disproportionality of his sentence) is long overdue. Copies of our previous letters to you, urging Mr. Pollard’s release were included in his parole submission and ignored.

We would like to point out as well, that the Parole decision document notes Mr. Pollard’s Salient Factor Score, indicating his suitability for release as “10” which is the highest score possible. This too was ignored.

The Parole Commission also ignored compassionate factors, such as Mr. Pollard’s age (he has spent half of his life in prison) and his poor state of health; and his family situation (his wife has had two bouts with cancer and had to manage without her husband’s presence or assistance).

As former officials of the US government who served our country with pride, we take no pride in the ongoing miscarriage of justice which has deprived Mr. Pollard of his right to fair and equal treatment before the law. Mr. Pollard committed a serious offense and justifiably received a severe sentence. Efforts to secure commutation of Mr. Pollard’s life sentence began in earnest only after Mr. Pollard had served 20 years as a model prisoner and adequately expressed remorse. It is clear that his sentence is far more severe than others in the US convicted of the same offense. We are deeply troubled that his grossly disproportionate sentence is now continuing into a 30th year of incarceration with no end in sight.

Denying a man his freedom based on a claim of damage that is patently false while ignoring exculpatory documentary evidence and hiding behind a veil of secret evidence is neither fair nor just, and it simply is not the American way. It is precisely for cases like this which clearly deviate from the standard of American justice - and compassion - that our nation prides itself on, that the Constitution grants the president of the United States virtually unlimited powers of executive clemency.

We therefore strongly urge you, Mr. President, to tolerate no further delay in rectifying an injustice that has gone on for far too long. We urge you to act expeditiously to commute Mr. Pollard’s life sentence to the 29 years which he has already served.

Respectfully,

Amb. R. James Woolsey

Former Director of the CIA

Senator Dennis DeConcini

Former Chair of Senate Intelligence Committee

Senator David F. Durenburger

Former Chair of Senate Intelligence Committee

Robert C. MacFarlane

Former US National Security Advisor

Lawrence J. Korb

Former Assistant US Secretary of Defense

Angelo Codevilla, Prof. emeritus Boston Univ.

Former Senate Intelligence Committee Staff

Congressman Lee Hamilton

Homeland Security Advisor to Pres. Obama and Former Chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence

Bernard W. Nussbaum

Former White House Counsel

US parole board refuses release of spy Jonathan Pollard | i24news - Panel indicates that Pollard, already in jail 30 years, will only be freed in 2030

From: "Justice4JP ." <justice4jp@gmail.com>
Date: November 20, 2014 at 9:40:09 AM EST
To: Justice4JP <justice4jp@gmail.com>
Subject: US parole board refuses release of spy Jonathan Pollard | i24news - Panel indicates that Pollard, already in jail 30 years, will only be freed in 2030

US parole board refuses release of Jonathan Pollard

Panel indicates that Pollard, already in jail 30 years, will only be freed in 2030

124news - November 20, 2014

http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/51608-141120-us-parole-board-refuses-release-of-spy-jonathan-pollard

A US parole board has denied a request to free US-Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, who has begun his 30th year in prison, according to activist and media reports.

Pollard, 60, was an analyst in the US Navy and was convicted of passing secrets to Israel and sentenced to a life term, which expires in 2030. Over the past 20 years, since he first became eligible for parole, successive Israeli governments and public figures have lobbied with US administrations for his release, to no avail.

A statement on Wednesday by from the Campaign for the Release of Jonathan Pollard quoted American officials as saying that releasing Pollard would “constitute contempt for the severity of the offense and promote a lack of respect for the law.”

According to The Jerusalem Post, the administration's representatives at the parole board hearing spoke menacingly, treated Pollard with contempt and made it clear that the Israeli agent would not see the Jewish state any time soon, if ever. Those present described the hearing as a “kangaroo court” and even “a lynching.”

The rejection letter that the parole commission sent Pollard in August, which the Post exclusively obtained, was also harsh in tone.

“The breadth and scope of the classified information that you sold to the Israelis was the greatest compromise of US security to that date,” the letter said.

“You passed thousands of Top Secret documents to Israeli agents, threatening US relations in the Middle East among the Arab countries.”

The commission wrote that ahead of the 30th anniversary of Pollard’s incarceration, it would conduct another review of the case in February 2015 and another parole hearing five months later, the Post reported.

But when asked whether the government would once again oppose Pollard’s parole next July, a commission official replied, “Absolutely, vigorously”.

The letter indicated that barring parole next year, Pollard would have to continue serving his life sentence, meaning 45 years.

Pollard, 60, is suffering from multiple recurring health problems and has been hospitalized several times recently without word getting out to the media.

SEE ALSO:

JPost: Pollard's Parole Plastering - By Gil Hoffman    http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Pollards-parole-plastering-38230  The Jerusalem Post’ reveals the drama behind the failure of Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard’s long-awaited parole hearing, which has been kept secret until now.

Life in Israel: Pollard has just one year left to serve

The Federal Bureau of Prisons has finally updated Jonathan Pollard's records with an expected release date. His expected release date is one year from now November 21, 2015.

So, even if the president does not pardon him or grant him clemency, he only has one year left.

Of course he may not live out the year, he might be knocked off before they let him out, or they can change the date for whatever reason they justify, so it ain't over until it is over, but it looks like it might be over soon enough.

Jonathan Pollard Given Life

Photo Credit: US Federal Bureau of Prisons

Jonathan Pollard’s projected release date was changed on the US Government’s Federal Bureau of Prisons website from November 21, 2015 to Life.

It is not clear why the change was made, but many were expecting that Pollard would be automatically released next November, and apparently that won’t be the case.

Pollard’s health is in very poor condition.

Netanyahu raised the issue of Pollard’s release in his last visit to the White House.

The Buck Stops There…

Alan Dershowitz On The Jonathan Pollard Case

Jonathan Pollard in Our Prayers Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/cartoons/jonathan-pollard-in-our-prayers/

Israel Matzav: American 'justice': Spying for Iran, 10 years, spying for Israel, life

How ridiculous is it that Jonathan Pollard continues to sit in jail? An Iranian engineer who works with US defense contractors has just been arrested and could be sentenced to ten years in jail for spying for Iran. Meanwhile, Pollard, who turned sensitive documents over to Israel, a US ally, has served 28 years in jail... and counting. 

Mozaffar Khazaee, an Iranian engineer who worked with US defense contractors, was arrested Friday at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey as he attempted to fly to Tehran via Germany.

He was charged in Connecticut with “transporting, transmitting and transferring in interstate or foreign commerce goods obtained by theft, conversion, or fraud.”

A statement by the US attorney’s office in Connecticut said the maximum sentence for such a crime is imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.

“The Iranian’s maximum sentence raises the question yet against why Pollard was given life in prison and why he still has not received clemency from the president of the United States,” said Shai, who heads the Knesset’s Pollard lobby. “Pollard has served more than 28 years for spying for an ally. Spying for Iran is much worse.”

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, said Khazaee attempted to ship to Iran proprietary material relating to the US Air Force’s F35 Joint Strike Fighter program and military jet engines that he had stolen from defense contractors where he had been employed. The US intercepted numerous boxes of documents consisting of sensitive technical manuals, specification sheets, and other material.

I wonder which is the bigger problem for Obama: The fact that Pollard is Jewish or the fact that he 'spied' for Israel.

Pollard Protest in Yerushalayim This Evening

ISRAEL MATZAV: Pollard blasts Israeli government over terrorist release

Jonathan Pollard, who has been imprisoned in the United States for the last 28 years for spying for Israel, has spoken out for the first time since his imprisonment. In a JPost op-ed, he blasts the Israeli government for releasing terrorists.

Over the last six decades, Israel’s leaders and its judiciary have practiced the art of political expedience to such a degree that Israel is now the first and only country in the world to hold the following dubious “honors”:

• Israel is the only country in the world ever to voluntarily expel its own citizens from chunks of its homeland in order to hand over the land to its enemies.

• It is the only country in the world ever to voluntarily destroy the homes and businesses of its own citizens, leaving them with shattered lives and broken promises.

• Israel is the only country in the world ever to voluntarily dig up and transport the graves of its dead so that the land could be turned over to its enemies.

The State of Israel also holds unenviable world records for betraying those who serve the state, including the following:

• Israel is the only country in the world to restrain its military from rescuing a wounded soldier, for fear of provoking the enemy and risking its approval ratings with the world. The soldier, injured by enemy gunfire at a Jewish holy site, slowly bled to death needlessly while the IDF stood by and watched.

• Israel also remains the only country in the world ever to voluntarily cooperate in the prosecution of its own intelligence agent, refusing him sanctuary, turning over the documents to incriminate him, denying that the state knew him, and then allowing him to rot in a foreign prison for decades on end, cravenly forgoing its right to simple justice for the nation and for the agent.

• Additionally, Israel is still the only country in the world ever to violate its own system of justice by repeatedly releasing dangerous, unrepentant murderers and terrorists back into the civilian population with impunity. No other country in the world has ever done this! In summary, Israel has the dubious distinction of being the only country in the world so befuddled by moral ambiguity that it is willing to dishonor its dead, betray its bereaved, and disgrace its citizens for the sake of political expediency.

...

All the polls indicate that the overwhelming majority of Israeli citizens are opposed to the release of the murderers. It is a strange kind of democracy that pays no heed whatsoever to the will of the people.

No Israeli official has advanced a single compelling reason in support of the wholesale release of these murderers and terrorists. The claim that it “serves national interests” is spurious. There is no national interest that supersedes morality.

The second-most touted excuse is that the government of Israel was given three existentially threatening choices by its best ally, and the least damaging choice of the three was the release of murderers and terrorists.

Did anyone at the helm ever consider that given three life-threatening choices, the only response is: “No, no and no!”?

Someone needs to wave this in the face of the craven members of the so-called 'Jewish Home' party who believe that the only problem with releasing terrorists is that we didn't get Jonathan Pollard in exchange for them.  After 28 years in American prisons, Jonathan Pollard has more morality and common sense in his little finger than these vapid politicians have in their entire party. 

Read the whole thing. 

Free Pollard campaign marks 10,000 days to spy's incarceration Free Pollard campaign plans protest near U.S. secretary of state's hotel in Jerusalem, says spy "is serving an unprecedented sentence" • Campaign urges President Peres to "use his close relationship with Kerry to promote the matter and save Pollard's life."

The Free Pollard campaign will hold a protest rally on Monday evening in Jerusalem, marking 10,000 days since the Israeli spy was incarcerated and demanding his release.

Pollard, who was convicted in 1987 and sentenced to life in prison, is said to be in failing health. The Free Pollard campaign has been trying to promote his release for several years, but so far their attempts, as well as those made by various Israeli governments, have failed.

The campaign's protest rally will be held across from the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem, where U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is visiting Israel, is staying.

The campaign plans to urge Kerry to free the Israeli spy, "who is serving an unprecedented sentence, the likes of which has never been imposed on anyone who has committed similar offenses."

President Shimon Peres is expected to meet with Kerry on Monday evening and the campaign urged him to make the Israeli spy's release the focus of their meeting.

The Free Pollard campaign decided against holding a protest rally across from the presidential residence on Monday morning, so as not to infringe on Holocaust Memorial Day, but it has expressed hope that Peres "will be an emissary of justice and of Israel's desire to bring the Pollard tragedy to its end, before it is too late."

The campaign further said that U.S. President Barack Obama "did not close the book on the matter" during his visit to Israel in March. "We hope that President Peres will use his close relationship with Secretary Kerry to promote the matter and save Pollard's life."

Pollard will be eligible for parole in November 2015.

Channel 2 TV: Esther Pollard's Heartfelt Appeal to President Obama

In an exclusive feature interview with Israel Channel 2 TV News, Esther Pollard was asked by journalist Udi Segal,"If you could speak to President Obama to ask him for Jonathan's freedom, what would you say to him?" Esther responded with a heartfelt appeal, first in Hebrew, and then in English. The English appeal aired on the prime time nightly news on Channel 2 TV, March 11, 2013, with Hebrew subtitles as shown here on YouTube.

FREE JONATHAN POLLARD!-Beni Elbaz & Naftali Kalfa

The Truth About Pollard

Last week, the Knesset took up the issue of Jonathan Pollard, the American Jew who has been serving a life sentence for spying on the United States on behalf of Israel. Knesset Speaker Benjamin Ben-Eliezer praised the spy as a “true Zionist.” Many members joined the 100,000 Israelis who signed a petition calling for Pollard’s release. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat agreed and said he would nominate Pollard for the prestigious Jerusalem Freedom Award. Pollard’s supporters are hoping this campaign on the eve of President Obama’s trip to Israel will bring attention to the case and lead to his freedom. But they are almost certainly mistaken.

In Haaretz, the paper’s Barak Ravid quotes a “senior American official” as saying that the latest round of public advocacy in Israel on behalf of Pollard is having no impact on President Obama. Though the administration is resigned to being subjected to numerous appeals to release the former U.S. Navy analyst who has been in jail since 1985, none of it is likely to persuade the president to grant clemency to Pollard. Indeed, as the official makes clear, the more Israelis and some American Jews treat the spy like a hero, the less likely Obama or anyone else in a position of authority in Washington is to listen to their appeals. That’s a hard concept for those who are trying to free Pollard to understand but if they are to ever succeed, they must start trying.
As I wrote in the March 2011 issue of COMMENTARY in an in-depth analysis of the case on its 25th anniversary, both sides of the long running argument about Pollard have exaggerated their positions to the point of caricature. Those in the U.S. security establishment have wrongly tried to blame Pollard for American intelligence setbacks at the hands of the former Soviet Union in an effort to justify their desire to continue to make an example of him. But Pollard’s backers have also inflated the value of the espionage that he committed on behalf of Israel while also trying to ignore the far more serious damage he did to the Jewish state by souring relations with its sole superpower ally.

Irrespective of these exaggerations, Pollard committed a crime for which he deserved serious punishment. But after more than 27 years in jail the case for mercy for the spy is stronger than ever. As I wrote two years ago, his sentence was disproportionate to that given any other person who spied for an ally as opposed to an enemy or rival nation. Nor is there any conceivable security justification for his continued imprisonment. But the biggest mistake that his supporters have continually made over the years is to think that his freedom will ever be won by efforts that cast him as a martyr. It was Pollard’s own foolish boasts along those lines in a “60 Minutes” interview and in discussions with Wolf Blitzer (the CNN star was then a Jerusalem Post reporter) that caused the government to trash the plea bargain agreement with the spy and led to his draconian sentence to life in prison.

Praise from the Knesset and awards from the city of Jerusalem merely repeat these mistakes.

What Pollard’s fans don’t understand is that lionizing the spy merely increases the desire of the U.S. security establishment to keep him in prison to set an example that spies are punished, not set free to play the hero. The vengeful attitude toward Pollard may stem in part from hostility to Israel by some in Washington. But it’s hard to blame them for resenting a campaign that treats a U.S. Navy employee who broke his oath and did real damage to the United States as somehow deserving praise.

But the pro-Pollard Jews just can’t seem to help themselves. One of the main lessons of 20th century history for Jews was that they couldn’t afford to be silent in the face of a threat or injustice. Such silence or a reliance on traditional modes of quiet diplomacy failed them in the greatest crisis of modern Jewish history during the Holocaust. A desire not to make the same mistake helped inspire the movements to free Soviet Jewry and to support Israel. It inspired in many Jews an understandable contempt for behind-the-scenes diplomacy or reticence on any issue. But it was that discredited strategy of quiet outreach rather than aggressive advocacy that was always the only formula to help free Pollard.

Had the issue been framed solely on the concept that Pollard was a misguided soul who erred but deserved mercy, he probably would have been out of jail a long time ago. But the attempt to cast him as an American “prisoner of Zion” merely strengthened the hands of those U.S. officials who have always been the roadblock to clemency.

At this point, it’s hard to imagine any circumstance in the immediate future that will lead Obama or his successor to free Pollard. But if there is to be any hope, it must begin with the spy’s supporters dropping any mention of anything but a desire for mercy for a man who has already been severely punished. If they ever want to see him freed, there must be an end to awards or rhetoric about his commitment to Zionism.

'Pollard Didn't Deserve to Receive a Life Sentence' Lawrence Korb, who was Assistant Secretary of Defense during the Jonathan Pollard affair, says it's time to let Pollard go.

Lawrence Korb, who served as Assistant Secretary of Defense during the Jonathan Pollard affair, told a news conference on Tuesday that Pollard did not deserve a life sentence.

Korb noted that the usual sentence for offenses similar to those made by Pollard is only seven years, adding that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu raised the issue during his first term in office with former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and almost managed to get Pollard freed.

Now, he said, is the time to release Pollard from prison.

“Jonathan did not plead guilty nor was he convicted of treason,” said Korb. “He pleaded guilty to providing information to a friendly country. Jonathan didn’t have a trial. He spared [the government] a trial, he pleaded guilty and was not supposed to get a life sentence.”

He added that what led the judge in Pollard’s case to break the plea agreement and sentence Pollard to life was the fact that he gave an interview to the media from prison.

“The judge was left with the impression that this was unauthorized, but as you well know, you don’t show up in a prison and just walk in with a photographer and your notepad without government permission,” said Korb, adding that the interview “was authorized by the government, but the judge was led to believe that wasn’t the case.”

“Jonathan did not provide anything to the Israelis that would compromise Americansecurity,” Korb stressed.

The former Assistant Secretary of Defense arrived in Israel on Saturday night in order to aid the efforts on Pollard's behalf.

Korb has said publicly and written a letter to the effect that Pollard has been punished more than enough, and has held meetings and talks over the past few months with various officials in the U.S. on the subject.

On Monday, Korb, along with Jonathan’s wife Esther Pollard, met with both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres. Both leaders have indicated they plan to ask President Barack Obama to release Pollard when he visits Israel later this month.

However, reports last week indicated that U.S. President Barack Obama has no intention of releasing Pollard from prison, despite the fact that over 100,000 thousand people have already signed onto an online petition calling for Pollard’s release.

Close associates of Obama reportedly said last week that Obama “does not understand why he should pardon a traitor, when tens of thousands of African Americans are rotting in prison for life over less serious crimes.”

The officials also indicated that Obama does not intend to present any gestures involving Pollard during his visit to Israel next month.

The petition circulating online advocating for Jonathan's release has been signed by tens of thousands of Israelis, including a number of MKs such as Yair Lapid, Eitan Cabel (Labor), Elazar Stern (Hatnua) and Avishai Braverman (Labor). Former President Yitzchak Navon has signed the petition as well.