American Chutzpah: It’s Time to Release Jonathan Pollard

January 3, 2014

3 min read

US Sec. of State John Kerry (applauding): “Bravo! Well done!” (Cartoon: Yediot Achronot)

I was fourteen years old when I wrote my first article outside of school, twenty years ago. As a teenager, I was fired up enough to write a letter to the editor which was printed in the Columbus Dispatch. What was the 1994 issue that stirred me from my normal teenage political apathy? Jonathan Pollard was entering his tenth year in federal prison for spying on behalf of Israel, which I claimed at the time to be a severely disproportionate punishment for his crime and a gross miscarriage of justice.

Jonathan Pollard was a civilian American Naval intelligence analyst in the mid 1980’s who came across classified  information about Arab countries developing chemical and nuclear weapons for use against Israel. When Pollard discovered this, he took the classified information to his superiors but was told to “mind his own business”, and that “Jews get nervous talking about poison gas; they don’t need to know.” Although the US was bound by treaty to share the classified intel with Israel based on a 1983 Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries, America suppressed the information. Pollard was faced with the nightmare scenario of being forced to choose between loyalty to his country, the United States of America, or his ability to save Jewish lives in Israel. Even though he knew what he was doing was against the law, Pollard chose the latter.

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In his trial, Pollard cooperated completely with the prosecution and pled guilty in exchange for a plea agreement which the US government subsequently violated. The government threw the book at Pollard sentencing him to life in prison without possibility of parole, subject to the most severe punishments, including solitary confinement. Pollard’s punishment has been much harsher than in comparable cases, even spies on behalf of enemy countries that caused the death of Americans, like Aldrich Ames.

Many leading figures such as Henry Kissinger and former CIA head James Woolsey, have called for Pollard’s sentence to be commuted to time served. Recent revelations of American spying on allies, including Israel, have renewed the call for Pollard’s freedom. Just this week, 106 Knesset members signed a petition urging President Obama to set Pollard free. These politicians represent a wide range of Israelis from the far right to the far left, including a number of Arab Knesset members. Such a broad consensus in Israel’s contentious Knesset is nearly unprecedented and prompted one Israeli lawmaker to comment that “Pollard is the only issue in which everyone agrees on.”

Many theories have been offered to explain American stubbornness and unwillingness to release Pollard to Israel, America’s so-called closest ally and best friend in the Middle East. Regarding its policy towards Pollard, America’s stubbornness is quickly transforming into hypocrisy. Recent allegations that America has been aggressively spying on Israeli Prime Ministers and John Kerry’s undue pressure on Netanyahu to release Palestinian terrorists from Israeli jails while refusing to discuss Jonathan Pollard is the height of chutzpa.

The time has come for us to say enough is enough, to expose American hypocrisy and demand Pollard’s release. Our intentions are humanitarian, as Pollard’s health has been failing in recent years.  Justice demands that he has served long enough.  Biblically speaking, the Bible tells us that we must free captives.

A lot has changed in twenty years, but it’s heartbreaking for me to think that as Jonathan Pollard completes his 28th year in prison, here I am writing another article on his behalf. My generation has not done enough, I have not done enough, but one of my resolutions for 2014 is to do more to advocate for the immediate release of Jonathan Pollard, will you join me?

Editor: Please raise your voice and let us know what you think in the comments below.

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