Prime Minister Ariel Sharon arrived in the US last night, amidst reports of an erosion in the Israeli position for demanding the release of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard. There are reports that the Sharon delegation fears pressing for Pollard\'s release in order not to \"introduce unpleasantness into the atmosphere of the first working session with the Americans.\" Sharon Spokesman Raanan Gissin said yesterday that the Pollard release would be discussed, but could not say if it would be brought up with President Bush directly. IMRA news agency received a statement from Jonathan Pollard, who commented on the reported Israeli delegation\'s fear. Below is a segment from Pollard\'s statement of last night.
\"No Government of Israel has ever pursued this case as a matter of national
priority. Even in those instances when people like Binyamin Netanyahu seemed to have been on the verge of securing my release they were never willing to push the matter to the point where they could be successful.\"
\"The Americans understand this kind of tentative support very well and act accordingly.\"
\"If Prime Minister Sharon is not willing to make a clear and unambiguous case for my release and repatriation at this first meeting with President Bush, then he will never be ready for it…\"
\"Americans understand a country\'s support for and commitment to agents and soldiers who are in harm\'s way. The United States does understand that kind of principle. And if Sharon simply says that we have had eight years of horror from the United States and that we need to set this right - that we need to reestablish the relationship and that the best way of doing that is by honoring the commitment made at Wye and releasing our agent and letting him come home - then many other good things will come from that….\"
\"So their support, their dedication to my repatriation, has really less to do
with me than it does with impressing the Americans with the Government\'s
commitment to the security of ALL Israelis - even one like me being held in
an American prison.\"
\"We have a new legal case in the United States and there are many grounds on which the American government can act and can justify some kind of relief in this matter.\"
\"I think right now that what we have to realize is that if this Government
does not bring me up as a matter of absolute and unqualified priority then
they will have willingly abandoned me. They will have consciously abandoned
me in the field. And Sharon will have proven himself to be no better than
Barak.\"
\"Basically there is no difference between me right now and that poor soldier
who was left to bleed at Joseph\'s Tomb. I am bleeding right now and Sharon has it in his power to rescue me.\"
\"Now if he doesn\'t do this - and there is no reason why he can\'t - then he
will have my blood on his hands as surely as Ehud Barak has the blood of
that poor soldier at Joseph\'s Tomb.\"
\"The whole point of this initiative right now with Bush is that first impressions are the most important and if Sharon doesn\'t act like a leader of our country then his measure will have been taken and he will have been assessed as weak and a pushover.\"
\"Sharon has already made the commitment on CNN to seek my release in his
meeting with Bush and if he equivocates on it now, if the Israelis turn this
again into a side issue with the Americans then this was just a tactic and a
ruse.\"
\"No Government of Israel has ever pursued this case as a matter of national
priority. Even in those instances when people like Binyamin Netanyahu seemed to have been on the verge of securing my release they were never willing to push the matter to the point where they could be successful.\"
\"The Americans understand this kind of tentative support very well and act accordingly.\"
\"If Prime Minister Sharon is not willing to make a clear and unambiguous case for my release and repatriation at this first meeting with President Bush, then he will never be ready for it…\"
\"Americans understand a country\'s support for and commitment to agents and soldiers who are in harm\'s way. The United States does understand that kind of principle. And if Sharon simply says that we have had eight years of horror from the United States and that we need to set this right - that we need to reestablish the relationship and that the best way of doing that is by honoring the commitment made at Wye and releasing our agent and letting him come home - then many other good things will come from that….\"
\"So their support, their dedication to my repatriation, has really less to do
with me than it does with impressing the Americans with the Government\'s
commitment to the security of ALL Israelis - even one like me being held in
an American prison.\"
\"We have a new legal case in the United States and there are many grounds on which the American government can act and can justify some kind of relief in this matter.\"
\"I think right now that what we have to realize is that if this Government
does not bring me up as a matter of absolute and unqualified priority then
they will have willingly abandoned me. They will have consciously abandoned
me in the field. And Sharon will have proven himself to be no better than
Barak.\"
\"Basically there is no difference between me right now and that poor soldier
who was left to bleed at Joseph\'s Tomb. I am bleeding right now and Sharon has it in his power to rescue me.\"
\"Now if he doesn\'t do this - and there is no reason why he can\'t - then he
will have my blood on his hands as surely as Ehud Barak has the blood of
that poor soldier at Joseph\'s Tomb.\"
\"The whole point of this initiative right now with Bush is that first impressions are the most important and if Sharon doesn\'t act like a leader of our country then his measure will have been taken and he will have been assessed as weak and a pushover.\"
\"Sharon has already made the commitment on CNN to seek my release in his
meeting with Bush and if he equivocates on it now, if the Israelis turn this
again into a side issue with the Americans then this was just a tactic and a
ruse.\"