Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Pollard

ערב ראש חודש התשעי תשע"ג


I haven't written too much about Jonathan Pollard.  Perhaps I should have.  But, Tomer Devorah has always seemed to cover everything which needed to be covered.  So, I kept my focus on other areas.  See her material on Jonathan Pollard here.

But, then, I was pointed to the following article by Barry Chamish [BC]:

 


JPost: Jonathan Pollard Not Bearing Grudge Against Peres  

Gil Hoffman, November 9, 2012
Jailed former Israeli spy reacts to his handler's admission that Pollard was incriminated under orders from Shimon Peres. Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard chose to express hope rather than anger in response to an interview with his former handler Rafi Eitan, who revealed for the first time that he incriminated Pollard under orders from then-prime minister and current president Shimon Peres.

Eitan told Yediot Aharonot in an interview published Friday that he gave the Americans information he knew would be used against Pollard. He said he had no choice other than to abide by government decisions.

"When I testified, I felt a myriad of emotions," Eitan said. "I had a deep feeling that I should not talk to the Americans about the episode, because they certainly did not want what was best for Pollard. But on the other hand, I am a disciplined soldier. I have never acted against the government's orders, even when I thought we should be acting differently."

The Campaign for Pollard's Freedom responded by expressing shock that Israel became what they said was the first country in the world to actively incriminate its own agent. But the campaign refused to criticize Peres.

"Neither we, nor Jonathan, wants to dwell on the past," the campaign said. "What matters is that the president is currently in the best possible position to end this unfortunate tragedy."

Pollard will begin serving the 28th year of his life sentence November 21. Peres and Pollard have issued formal clemency requests to US president Barack Obama, but he has never responded.

US presidents usually grant pardons and commute sentences during the American holiday season that begins with Thanksgiving on November 22.

BC: Need I remind you of who Rafi Eitan is? Look who got it right 15 years ago:
* Rafi Eitan was Jonathan Pollard's handler. He took Pollard's data and transferred it personally to PM Shimon Peres all through 1985. And if anymore thinks he accidentally rose to lead a Pensioner's Party, knows nothing about the corruption of the Knesset. He was never poor enough to even need the party, let alone lead it.
         Just 20 years ago, Pollard was a powerful Israeli national issue. Today, it is run entirely by the Israeli Far Right. Those scary kids and the suspicious wife are responsible for Jonathan Pollard's survival, which means the rest of his life will be in prison. That's how the establishment deflates any issue: just hand it over to the Far Right. As soon as Eitan was in, the wife had her say, on the Yoav Yitzhak site, that Eitan should resign. The message was, naturally, ignored by Israel. 
 I am very concerned about Pollard, as much if he gets released as if he remains in prison.

I believe that he knows too many secrets, but not enough to keep himself from getting killed.  If and when he gets out, he will be a marked target.

May God protect him.

No comments: