Protest for Pollard
Protest for PollardArutz Sheva

Knesset Members and public figures took part Sunday in a protest to free Jonathan Pollard outside the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. Over 1,000 people participated in the rally.

Esther Pollard, Jonathan's wife, said: “This is our first official Pollard demonstration in front of the US Embassy and G-d willing, this will be our last. Today, after nearly 30 years in prison, there's no one who doesn't know that Jonathan's sentence is grossly disproportionate and absolutely unjust. Indeed, many senior American officials are now supporting and calling for Jonathan's immediate release, whether as a matter of justice or as a humanitarian issue. In Israel there is wall-to-wall consensus.

"The government of Israel is at this time in intense negotiations with the Americans every single day. The Americans are leaning heavily on Israel, they demand that Israel make painful gestures to our enemies. And Israel keeps on bending over backwards to respond positively to the requests of the Americans. How is it that the Americans are not willing to make the smallest, most minimal gesture toward Israel, as a confidence building measure?”

MK Tzahi Hanegbi (Likud-Beytenu) told Arutz Sheva that it is “a mystery” in his eyes, why the US is displaying “a heart of stone” regarding Pollard. He noted that the United States “is a nation of values, including justice and reason, and even generosity.”

He said that the fact that the US is “so passionate” about Israel making concessions involving Arab terrorists means that it should understand the concensus in Israel concerning the relase of Pollard.