Free Pollard Now

When Prime Minister Ariel Sharon meets US President George W. Bush in Texas, it seems safe to say that they will not have any trouble finding issues to talk about.

From Israel’s planned Gaza withdrawal to the Palestinians’ ongoing failure to fight terror to the terrorists’ renewal of mortar attacks in the past few days, the two leaders will have to tackle an intricate and complex agenda.

But there is one matter which they should be able to resolve fairly easily, if only they have the will to do so: the case of Jonathan Pollard.

For the past 20 years, Pollard has been rotting in jail in the United States after being sentenced to life in prison for passing confidential information to Israel.

The facts of his case are well-known, so there is no need to repeat them here. But suffice it to say that the sentence he received violated the plea-bargain agreement he made with the US government, and that spies convicted of working for America’s enemies have received far more lenient terms of imprisonment than Pollard did.

Prime Minister Sharon has demonstrated a decided lack of interest in the case, doing virtually nothing to seek clemency for him – and that has got to change. Whatever one may think of Pollard and his actions, the fact is that he worked on Israel’s behalf and it is therefore the Government’s responsibility to help him.

With Sharon doing his best to please the American government in just about every possible sphere, there is simply no reason why he can’t “cash in” a chip or two and ask Bush to set Pollard free.

After all, Pollard did the crime, and he has done the time. And now it is time to bring him home.

Who's Afraid of Public Opinion?

He has led men into battle, braved enemy gunfire and engaged in some of Israel’s most daring and well-known military operations. But for all the courage he has shown on the battlefield, when it comes to the political arena Ariel Sharon has suddenly lost his nerve.

“There will definitely be no referendum,” Sharon told reporters at the Knesset yesterday, referring to mounting demands that the Israeli people be allowed to vote on his Gaza withdrawal plan. “The public supports the disengagement plan,” he insisted, “as does the Knesset.”

And yet, Sharon’s statement actually raises more questions than it answers. If indeed he is so sure that the country backs his move, then why is he afraid to put it to the test of public opinion? And if a majority actually opposes such a plan, then how legitimate would any withdrawal actually be?

Sharon also sought to argue that a referendum would divide the nation still further – but that is simply untrue. The whole idea of giving the public a voice on the issue is to stifle the growing split within the country, because the outcome would necessarily result in the bulk of the Israeli public accepting whatever the majority would decide.

Moreover, if Sharon refuses to hold a referendum, and goes ahead with the withdrawal anyway, it will leave an open wound on Israel’s national psyche. Rightly or wrongly, huge portions of the public feel that Sharon has no mandate to pull out from Gaza, leaving a heavy scent of illegitimacy hanging over the entire affair.

The only way to dispel that notion, and to re-unite the country, is to hold a referendum as soon as possible.

Deep down, I think that Sharon knows that. But whether or not he still has the courage of his convictions, as he did long ago during his military career, only time will tell.

A (Military) Heatwave in the North

Even as the world’s attention is turned to Gaza, Israel’s northern border is once again flaring up.

The Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon claimed responsibility for a bomb attack yesterday which blew up an Israeli armored jeep, killing Capt. Sharon Elmakayis and wounding several other Israeli soldiers.

This was a direct assault on Israeli troops patrolling Israeli territory. It was a violation of international law, an affront to Israel’s borders, and a clear message from Iran and Syria, Hezbollah’s key patrons, that they will continue to try and “bleed” Israel as much as possible.

And this was hardly the first time they have done so. In the nearly five years since Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon, some 21 Israelis have been killed along the northern border by Hezbollah terrorists.

In November, Hezbollah sent an unarmed drone into Israeli airspace, which managed to penetrate as far as the town of Nahariya before crashing into the sea. The incident was a dangerous provocation – had the drone been packed with explosives, it could easily have caused a mini-9/11 type of attack on an Israeli civilian target.

A few weeks ago, Hezbollah fired two Katyusha rockets into the northern Galilee, mimicking the daily rocket attacks on Israeli civilians being carried out by their Palestinian colleagues in Gaza.

The government’s unwillingness to act to stop these brazen assaults is simply incomprehensible and inexcusable. On both our northern and our southern borders, Israel is now coming under regular assault, and along both fronts, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has shown that he is unwilling to do what needs to be done to halt the ongoing attacks.

The danger here is two-fold: first, to the Israeli civilians living in the shadows of the rockets and bombs, who are being forced to endure the unendurable.

But it is also a threat to the rest of the country as well, because if our foes see that they can attack Israel with impunity from all directions, it will only embolden them to intensify their campaign of terror.

It is time, therefore, for the government to issue an ultimatum to all those targeting Israel and its civilians – cease and desist now, or face the full (military) consequences of your actions.