A group of Israeli students and activists began a hunger strike on Sunday calling for the freedom of Jonathan Pollard. The strike is being accompanied by afternoon demonstrations each day outside the Knesset in Jerusalem.
Pollard was a United States Naval intelligence analyst who was arrested and accused of spying for Israel. It was claimed that in the early 1980s, he discovered that Syria, Iraq, Libya and Iran were developing weapons of mass destruction with the intention of attacking the State of Israel. He then found that certain elements within the American intelligence establishment were deliberately withholding this vital information from the Israeli government despite Israel being entitled to it according to a 1983 Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries.
Pollard is supposed to have warned Israel's government of the threat. Israel, under then Prime Minister Shimon Peres, refused to admit Pollard to its embassy and let him be arrested by the FBI. In an effort to avoid a long and potentially embarrassing trial, both the American and Israeli governments urged Pollard to enter into a plea agreement. Although promised a light sentence in exchange for his cooperation, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, a punishment that is excessive for passing even highly sensitive information to a friendly country when compared to other prison sentences for espionage. Pollard has been sitting in American prison since November of 1985.
In recent years, there have been many grassroots efforts to free Pollard and his plight has become a popular cause for politically active Israeli youth. A Pollard Haggadah was published this year to promote freeing him from prison just as the nation of Israel was freed from Egyptian bondage.
Israel National News spoke to veteran activist Elie Yosef, who is leading the hunger strike and daily demonstrations, in order to get his perspective on the issue.
“The original intention of this hunger strike was to galvanize public support and build momentum towards serious activity for Pollard’s release this Passover,” said Yosef. “But the recent tension between Jerusalem and Washington over Jewish construction in Ramat Shlomo has prevented many politicians from wanting to even talk about Pollard. And this is exactly the root problem with our relationship with the United States – our political leadership does not know how to speak straight when it comes to issues of principle.”
Many politicians today believe that Israel must give in to President Obama’s demands in order to receive US support on the Iranian nuclear threat. But due to American pressure, Israel isn’t even doing what is necessary to stop the Iranian threat. Israel has to become much more independent if we hope to survive the current challenges we face.”
Drawing a parallel between the Cuban Missile Crisis a half century ago and the current threat of a nuclear armed Iran, Yosef contrasted the courageous leadership of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy with the behavior of current Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
“We need to understand basic Zionist principles," he said. "The abandonment of Jonathan Pollard is the abandonment of basic principles. Netanyahu says that Israel and America have joint interests on Iran today. But what happens when we don’t have joint interests? America wants to contain Iran. Israel needs to stop Iran. America can live with a nuclear Iran just like it lived with a nuclear Soviet Union. Israel cannot live with a nuclear Iran and therefore we need to strike before it becomes too late.
"Most of Israel’s major problems, especially in our relationship with the United States, come from the fact that our leaders tend to view everything through interests rather than issues of principle. Only by returning to basic Zionist principles will we be able to stand up to the Americans, assertively demand Pollard’s release and effectively deal with the Iranian threat on our own. The key to solving Israel’s major challenges today is simply putting principles above interests and restoring our sense of political independence.”