Aaron Lerner of Israel Media Review Analysis interviewed Esther Pollard, the wife of Jonathan Pollard, on March 5, 2003, regarding the Sharon government’s attitude toward efforts to free Jonathan Pollard who is serving a life sentence in an American prison for spying for Israel in the 1980’s.
Lerner asks Mrs. Pollard for her reaction to Sharon’s Knesset address at the swearing in of the new government on February 27, 2003. Sharon stressed his government’s commitment to releasing Azzam Azzam, an Israeli Druze imprisoned in Egypt who was accused spying for Israel, while omitting any mention of Jonathan Pollard. Unlike the Azzam case, the Israeli government has officially acknowleged that Jonathan Pollard, who then served as an official in the U.S. defense establishment, was a spy working for the Israeli government.
Arutz 7 has reprinted the text of the Lerner – Pollard interview:
IMRA: Esther, I'd like to get your reaction to Prime Minister Sharon's
Knesset Address at the swearing in of the new government on February 27.
Sharon stressed his government's commitment to the release of the Israeli
[Druse], Azzam Azzam from Egypt, ("We will continue to act determinedly to
bring the captured and missing soldiers home, and ensure the release of
Azzam Azzam") and omitted all mention of your husband, Jonathan Pollard.
What do you make of this?
ESTHER POLLARD: It is shocking but not surprising.
IMRA: Shocking? Surprising? How?
ESTHER POLLARD: Sharon's omission of Jonathan while the eyes of the world
were upon him was calculated. The message was not lost on the Americans;
namely that Pollard is a non-issue for Israel.
This is shocking. Jonathan is an Israeli agent in peril. If that were not
reason enough for the PM to vigorously seek his repatriation, then consider
that Jonathan is THE Israeli agent who warned Israel about the threat to her
existence posed by Iraq, and prepared her for the Gulf War.
Israel is once again gearing up for war with Iraq, providing gas masks and
chemical kits to her citizens. Israel has these civilian defenses today
thanks to the service of Jonathan Pollard. But Sharon's attitude towards him
remains ungrateful and indifferent.
IMRA: That's not surprising?
ESTHER POLLARD: No. For years Sharon has been consistent in his antipathy
towards Jonathan.
IMRA: As I recall, the late Minister Rechavam Ze'evi pleaded with Sharon not
to abandon Jonathan, " a wounded soldier in the field," and he was deeply
troubled by the PM's response. Is that what you are referring to?
ESTHER POLLARD: Yes. Not long after Sharon first took office, we met with
him and provided him with an effective plan to secure Jonathan's release.
Sharon refused to act upon it or any other initiative. After the meeting,
Sharon privately made it clear to Rechavam that the only way he is prepared
to bring Pollard home is in a coffin, G-d Forbid! Rechavam immediately
reported this to us. He was deeply shaken. All of Sharon's actions since
then have been consistently hostile.
IMRA: Esther, let's digress for a moment. Can you tell me how you respond to
people who blame you for Jonathan's plight? The ones who say that if you
would co-operate with the Government instead of criticizing them, Jonathan
would have been out long ago?
ESTHER POLLARD: Aaron, blaming the victim is a convenient excuse for
inaction. For more than a decade Jonathan cooperated fully with the
Government of Israel, and he remained silent while they subverted his case
and buried him alive. After 10 years, Jonathan finally realized that his
cooperation was merely facilitating Israel's plan to keep him in prison, and
that he had to speak out.
IMRA: And that is where you come in?
ESTHER POLLARD: I am Jonathan's voice in the outside world, by necessity. I
speak for him where he is not permitted to do so for himself.
IMRA: So what about those people who say they cannot help Jonathan because
you are too antagonistic or too aggressive?
ESTHER POLLARD: (Sighs) The implications of this case transcend the life of
one man, and impact on Israel and the Jewish community at large. Jewish
leaders - fearful of their own standing in the United States - prefer to
duck the larger issues. Many use personal attacks against us to justify
their cowardice and indifference. I do not think anyone is fooled. After
all, this is not a popularity contest. Jewish leaders do not have to like me
or Jonathan to insist upon equal justice for one of their own.
IMRA: Again, Esther, you keep exposing and embarrassing those who say that
they are committed to your husband's release.
ESTHER POLLARD: Aaron, we understand that in the world of realpolitik, you
do not bite the hand that feeds you. But if that hand, instead of feeding
you, is on your throat and silently choking you to death, you had better
stop the charade and quickly.
IMRA: You have said in previous interviews that there is a conflict between
the public posture of the Israeli Government which is intended for domestic
consumption only, and their position behind the scenes in Washington.
ESTHER POLLARD: That's right. The same is true of American Jewish leaders.
They are hand-in-glove with the Israeli Government on the issue of Jonathan
Pollard - publicly posturing for their home constituency, while privately
sabotaging and undermining efforts on Capitol Hill and in the White House
for Jonathan's release.
IMRA: Let's get back to Sharon and his recent Knesset speech which
emphasizes his government's commitment to Azzam Azzam's release and
significantly omits all mention of Jonathan.
ESTHER POLLARD: Perhaps one of the most damning observations we can make
about it is that there was not a word of protest from anyone in the Knesset
about the omission of Jonathan Pollard during Sharon's speech or afterwards.
Several years ago, then-President Clinton visited the Knesset. He gave a
wonderful speech, and all the MKs were overwhelmed by the President's
message of American friendship and love for Israel. Nevertheless, one lone
MK rose to his feet, and in the midst of the President's love-in with the
Knesset, cried out from depths of his soul, "MR. PRESIDENT, WHAT ABOUT
JONATHAN POLLARD?!!!"
IMRA: I remember that. It was Rechavam Ze'evi.
ESTHER POLLARD: Yes. And that was really breaking decorum, since Clinton was
a foreign dignitary. It should have been easier to remind our own Prime
Minister: WHAT ABOUT JONATHAN POLLARD?!!! What about our agent in
captivity - the one who enabled Israel to protect herself with gas masks and
sealed rooms against the threat of annihilation by Iraq?!!!
IMRA: But no one did.
ESTHER POLLARD: No. And Sharon is calculating: he would NEVER have dared
omit Jonathan if he had thought that there would be any word of protest.
IMRA: So where are all of Jonathan's friends in the Knesset? What is the
Knesset Lobby doing for Jonathan?
ESTHER POLLARD: What Knesset Lobby? Since Rechavam Ze'evi died, there has
been no Knesset Lobby, except perhaps in name only. And even when Rechavam
was alive, the Lobby did very little.
IMRA: But what about all of the Cabinet Ministers who visited Jonathan?
Where are they today?
ESTHER POLLARD: The photo-ops are long gone and they are nowhere to be seen.
IMRA: Again, Esther, is there anything to gain in your being so outspoken
about the Government's repeated failures? Aren't you afraid that they may
not help you if you criticize them?
ESTHER POLLARD: Aaron, they have not helped for 18 years. We are not afraid
that they will stop helping when they never started. There is a real danger,
however, in playing along with the false public perception that they are
doing something to help Jonathan.
Let me give you an analogy. A battered wife puts on such a brave front that
even her close friends do not know that she is being abused. After years of
suffering, she can endure no more and decides she must save herself and her
children and she files for divorce. Of course, no one believes her because
she has done such a good job of portraying her husband as a fine person.
Instead they believe her husband when he describes her as mentally unstable
and he claims custody of the children and all the assets. After all, he
says, if she wants to divorce someone as wonderful as he is, she must be
crazy!
IMRA: So you are saying that this is the analogy for Jonathan and the
Government of Israel? And what you are doing now is not criticizing but just
telling the truth?
ESTHER POLLARD: Exactly, Aaron. After all, there is no advantage in
criticizing those from whom you still expect help. We are not foolish enough
to expect that after 18 years the Government of Israel or the American
Jewish leadership is going to finally abandon its lies and its posturing and
ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING TO SAVE JONATHAN.
The information that we are putting out now is mainly for the record. It is
the counterbalance to the kind of propaganda that the Government of Israel
keeps putting out. Did you hear the propaganda piece that they did on Kol
Yisrael Radio yesterday? Did you notice how untimely, how negative the piece
was?
IMRA: You mean the "Moments in History" piece on Jonathan?
ESTHER POLLARD: Yes. If this were the anniversary of Jonathan's arrest, or
if it were his birthday, or some special day, then it would make sense to
have a radio flashback about him. Or if the approaching war with Iraq and
Jonathan's role in alerting Israel had been mentioned at all, then it would
have been timely, and there would be no reason to regard it as propaganda.
But that was not the case.
IMRA: So why do you think they ran this Pollard item now?
ESTHER POLLARD: Azzam Azzam. Think of Sharon's Knesset speech. This piece,
on a government-controlled radio station, was intended to condition the
listening public NOT to expect Jonathan Pollard home any time soon.
IMRA: I see. And they even ended the piece saying that all the governments
of Israel had tried to release Jonathan but failed "in spite of their best
efforts."
ESTHER POLLARD: Yes. The piece was completely negative. It spoke of how the
Pollard affair "strained U.S.-Israel relations" and it quoted an American
president saying that "espionage costs the U.S. billions of dollars every
year". The quote did not refer specifically to Jonathan's espionage, but it
implied that this is what Jonathan's spying cost the U.S.
That is, of course, an outright lie! There is not a shred of evidence to
support such allegations. That is why these accusations have always been
made in the media, never in a court of law where Jonathan could challenge
them. I should point out, Aaron, that when American officials do level these
charges specifically against Jonathan in the media, the amount of financial
damage they claim is invariably equal to the amount of foreign aide that
Israel receives from America!
IMRA: So after making this insidious statement, implying that Jonathan cost
the U.S. billions of dollars...
ESTHER POLLARD: The piece then concluded that in spite of the efforts of
every government since 1985, the Americans show no interest in releasing
Jonathan Pollard. Listeners were given the distinct impression that the
Americans are justified in continuing to punish Jonathan well beyond the
norm.
So, to continue the battered wife analogy, the big lie is that the
Government of Israel continues to claim that it has made repeated and
serious efforts to secure Jonathan's release, while at the same time
implying that somehow Jonathan is just so bad that the U.S. cannot or will
not release him. This is a blatant lie. If Israel had invested one tenth of
the effort to free Jonathan that it has expended in keeping him buried
alive, he would have been freed long ago. We allowed the big lie to go
unchallenged for many years, as we waited for Israel to act in good faith.
That is never going to happen, and we can no longer remain silent.
IMRA: It is troubling ...
ESTHER POLLARD: Aaron, let's not even talk about the debt of gratitude that
they owe Jonathan in preparing Israel for the Gulf War or for the
approaching war with Iraq. All we are talking about is the Israeli
Government's legal and moral obligation to an Israeli agent. Israel has
violated that obligation repeatedly for the last 18 years and exacerbated
Jonathan's situation by repeatedly lying about its own efforts and its
intentions.
IMRA: What is the connection with Azzam Azzam?
ESTHER POLLARD: Sharon is calculating. He would not have mentioned Azzam
Azzam in his Knesset speech if he did not think he could deliver on Azzam's
release, and soon.
IMRA: And Sharon is supposed to travel to Egypt soon to meet with Egyptian
President Mubarak. You think that that is what is in the works?
ESTHER POLLARD: These things do not happen in a vacuum. I think that Sharon
believes that that is what is in the works and that is why he set up a
positive expectation for the release of Azzam Azzam in his Knesset speech;
and as a precaution, a negative expectation for Jonathan's release on Kol
Yisrael Radio.
IMRA: What do you think the outcome of the pitch for Azzam Azzam will be?
ESTHER POLLARD: While no one can predict future events with certainty, my
husband has taught me that those who fail to learn from history are doomed
to repeat the same mistakes. Aaron, do you remember that at Wye, Israel
attempted to secure the release of Azzam Azzam?
IMRA: I recall that. It was eclipsed by all the static about Jonathan's
release.
ESTHER POLLARD: In a nutshell, the Egyptians made it very clear that they
were not going to do the U.S. any favors. They told the U.S., ' You have
your own Israeli prisoner (Jonathan Pollard) - you can let him go. Why
should we give up our Israeli prisoner if you do not give up yours?'
IMRA: I remember. There was talk at the time about a quid pro quo: that IF
America freed Jonathan, Egypt would free Azzam Azzam.
ESTHER POLLARD: That's right. There was high hope for a brief while that
Jonathan's freedom might bring Azzam Azzam's freedom in its wake. When the
U.S. reneged on its commitment to free Jonathan - which was an integral part
of the Wye Accords - Israel never protested and never insisted that the U.S.
live up to its end of the deal.
If readers want to understand what really happened at Wye, they should read
"Terror in the U.S. and the Jonathan Pollard Case" by Larry Dub, which is on
the J4JP web site In fact
there is an entire sub page of articles dealing with the double-cross at Wye
.
IMRA: Speaking of Wye, have you been in touch with Binyamin Netanyahu?
ESTHER POLLARD: I met with him at the beginning of December 2002, in his
official role as Foreign Minister.
IMRA: Did he offer any help?
ESTHER POLLARD: He said he could do nothing on his own and suggested that we
meet with PM Sharon. We, meaning Larry Dub (Jonathan's attorney), and HaRav
Eliyahu (Jonathan's rabbi) and me. We asked Bibi to set up the meeting with
Sharon.
IMRA: Do you call him "Bibi" to his face?
ESTHER POLLARD: Yes. He knows we have great affection for him, and he is
very personal with us as well.
We also asked Bibi to send the Ambassador in Washington to see Jonathan. He
immediately agreed to both requests. When we spoke to him the next day, he
told us that he had gotten the OK from Sharon for a meeting with us and also
the OK to dispatch the Ambassador to see Jonathan.
IMRA: The Foreign Minister had to ask the Prime Minister for permission to
dispatch an ambassador?
ESTHER POLLARD: Yes, or it would be vetoed by Sharon, he explained.
IMRA: Did you meet with Sharon? Did the Ambassador see Jonathan?
ESTHER POLLARD: No to both questions.
IMRA: Why not?
ESTHER POLLARD: After giving Bibi the go-ahead, Sharon's office played games
with us for weeks and simply REFUSED to set a date for either of these
meetings. Dov Weisglass, Sharon's bureau chief was rude to us and to our
attorney on the phone and in written communications. He made it very clear
that neither he nor Prime Minister Sharon was about to waste any time on
Jonathan Pollard, Israel's incarcerated agent.
IMRA: Wow!
ESTHER POLLARD: Stunning, isn't it?
IMRA: Does Mr. Netanyahu know this?
ESTHER POLLARD: Yes.
IMRA: Did he follow up with Sharon? After all, Netanyahu was promised the
meetings by Sharon.
ESTHER POLLARD: No. Not as far as we are aware.
IMRA: And Netanyahu has not said a word about Jonathan publicly, has he?
ESTHER POLLARD: No.
IMRA: How do you feel about that?
ESTHER POLLARD: We are saddened by this. We look at Bibi and we see the
potential for greatness. He has a good heart and he means well. But he fears
man when he should fear only Heaven. And that has repeatedly been his
undoing.
IMRA: So Sharon is a better candidate for the job?
ESTHER POLLARD: Aaron, you tell me which one is better. The end result is
unfortunately the same. Our Prime Ministers fear George Bush, not G-d. They
act out of self-interest, not devotion to our country and our people.
Unfortunately, this is true of the Knesset as a whole.
IMRA: Isn't that kind of a sweeping statement?
ESTHER POLLARD: How else do you explain a Government and a Knesset that are
in a head-long rush to deliver up our country and people to our sworn
enemies who have not honored a single commitment to us and who continue to
slaughter us wantonly?
Even those factions that remain outside of the Government have not done so
out of principle. Had they been invited to a place at the trough, they too
would have invented some excuse to justify signing an agreement that
mandates the creation of a Palestinian state committed to our destruction.
The very Government mind-set that originally deemed Jonathan Pollard
"expendable" now sets the paradigm for its treatment of the entire country
as expendable.
IMRA: Is there no one in the Knesset that you see as setting a better
example? The religious parties perhaps? Or the right wing parties?
ESTHER POLLARD: It is a contradiction in terms to endorse - explicitly or
implicitly- the creation of a Palestinian State, one that is devoted to our
destruction, and to still declare oneself as nationalist, religious or right
wing. Similarly, there is nothing nationalist or religious about their
abandonment of my husband.
IMRA: Have you approached any MKs recently?
ESTHER POLLARD: Two separate appeals were made in recent days. One of them
was just prior to the elections, when a call went out to all the factions to
add Jonathan's name to all of the party lists. Such a symbolic gesture, it
was felt, might send a message to the Americans about the importance of the
release of Jonathan Pollard. This gesture would have cost the parties
nothing and might have helped Jonathan.
IMRA: Other than the party (Herut) that made this call to the others, did
any other faction respond? Did anyone else offer to list Jonathan as a
symbolic candidate?
ESTHER POLLARD: No. Not even one.
IMRA: And after the elections?
ESTHER POLLARD: After the elections our attorney, Larry Dub, sent a letter
to every single faction head and asked them to remember Jonathan during
their negotiations to form a government. He asked them to include a
commitment to seek Jonathan's release in the Kavai Yesod (Basic Principles)
of the Government.
IMRA: No one did.
ESTHER POLLARD: The heartbreaker is that they did not even try.
IMRA: Why?
ESTHER POLLARD: Nothing personal against Jonathan. Just that he is a
non-issue. The average MK would certainly like Jonathan home, ditto the
Ministers; but they are not about to expend any political capital whatsoever
on anything - including Jonathan - if it does not provide them with some
immediate personal advantage or add to their own political aggrandizement.
IMRA: What about all those Ministers who visited Jonathan? People like Yuli
Edelstein, Limor Livnat, Dani Naveh and Eli Yishai.
ESTHER POLLARD: The last ministerial visit took place in 1998. The visits
provided PR for the Ministers and nothing for Jonathan. The visits raised
the expectation that the Government of Israel would make a real push for
Jonathan's release, but that never happened. And they raised the expectation
that these ministers would be staunch allies to our cause and really help
us. That never happened either.
IMRA: Can't you take legal action against the Government of Israel?
ESTHER POLLARD: Jonathan sued the Government in the Supreme Court of Israel
in 1999. In response, the Government made specific promises to the Supreme
Court. These promises included intensive efforts without delay to seek
Jonathan's immediate release, and the promise of financial support past,
present and future, for Jonathan and his wife. Six months later we informed
the Court that the Government had taken no steps to fulfill any of its
promises; indeed that the Government had not even been in contact with
Jonathan or his representatives that whole time.
IMRA: How did the Court respond?
ESTHER POLLARD: The Supreme Court did NOT ask the Government to show good
faith by executing its promises. It merely "expressed its confidence" that
the Government would make good on its promises to secure Jonathan's release
and to take care of him, and then it dismissed the case.
IMRA: Has the Government made good on any of those promises since then?
ESTHER POLLARD: No.
IMRA: Do you or Jonathan, for example, receive any financial assistance from
the Government of Israel?
ESTHER POLLARD: Not a cent. Not now. Not before. Not ever.
IMRA: What about the offer of 2 million dollars that the Government claimed
it made to Jonathan a little while ago? It was all over the press about a
year ago.
ESTHER POLLARD: That was just a cheap publicity stunt designed to undermine
public support for Jonathan. There never was any intention of making good on
an offer that was trumpeted in the media. Aaron, did you ever read or hear
in the media that the family of Azzam Azzam receives government support?
IMRA: No.
ESTHER POLLARD: Our attorney asked Dani Naveh (who was in charge of the
Azzam Azzam file) why it is not publicly known that the Government provides
financial help to Azzam Azzam? Naveh responded, "Are you kidding?! That
would hurt Azzam Azzam!" Larry was furious, and he said to Dani, "You are
careful not to hurt Azzam Azzam, but you had no such compunction about the
damage you did to Jonathan by announcing a bogus money offer in the media!"
It was Dani's office which did Sharon the favor of leaking this money offer
to the media.
IMRA: How did Naveh respond?
ESTHER POLLARD: With protestations of innocence and honest intent. The
bitter irony is that recently, more than a year later, Naveh had occasion to
call our attorney Larry Dub on another matter. As they were getting off the
phone, Naveh said, "Oh by the way Larry, what ever happened to the 2 million
dollar offer? Did Jonathan ever get the money?"
IMRA: You mean Naveh announced the deal, insisted it was genuine, and did
not stick around to watch the Government shaft Jonathan?
ESTHER POLLARD: Naveh allowed himself to be Sharon's patsy. He used Jonathan
to prove to Sharon he could be trusted as a Sharon team-player. Dani would
like Jonathan home; but he likes being Minister of Health in the new Sharon
Government much more.
IMRA: What about the person who was appointed as the Government's contact
person on the Pollard case?
ESTHER POLLARD: Moshe Kochanovsky. Totally useless. We sent dozens of
letters to Kochanovsky that were never answered; finally we stopped the
charade. No matter what we asked Kochanovsky for - whether it was to help us
get back into court in America, or for help with Jonathan's numerous medical
problems - he had a routine response. First he would stall for months and
then he would reply that whatever we were asking for is "outside of his area
of authority." Apparently, there was nothing in his area of authority except
to act as a dead letter drop for the Pollard case.
IMRA: Has the Mossad been of any help? I know Jonathan worked for LAKAM, not
the Mossad, but one would think that the Mossad would nevertheless lend a
hand to a fellow agent.
ESTHER POLLARD: We recently sent a representative to meet with Meir Dagan,
the new head of the Mossad. He is a colleague of Dagan's and Dagan was not
expecting him to bring up the issue of Jonathan Pollard. When he did, Dagan
treated him like a fool, and dismissed him. So much for help from the
Mossad.
IMRA: What about Avi Dichter?
ESTHER POLLARD: No different than Dagan. Dichter, by the way, has a good
relationship with Jonathan's rabbi, HaRav Mordecai Eliyahu. It is funny how
many people have close connections HaRav Eliyahu, but when it comes to
Pollard, they don't want to know the rabbi.
IMRA: Okay. So what about that magnificent historical letter signed by 110
members of Knesset .
Whatever became of that? Did the Knesset ever follow up? Did George Bush
ever respond?
ESTHER POLLARD: No follow up. No response. Sharon did not deliver the letter
to Bush as he promised but to a low level person in Condoleezza Rice's
office. The Knesset never bothered to follow up. And the Americans got the
message.
IMRA: What about a spy swap? Was that ever suggested to the Americans? Do we
have anyone they want?
ESTHER POLLARD: Aaron, the Americans get whatever they want from Israel for
free. They say jump and Israel says how high. Take, for example, the 750
murderers and terrorists with blood on their hands that Israel freed after
Wye. Those murderers, along with immunity for terrorist chief Ghazi Jabali,
were the price Israel had agreed to pay for Jonathan. Israel released them
all and the U.S. never lived up to its end of the bargain. To this day
Israel has never protested, never even tried to collect on Jonathan's
release.
IMRA: Can you give me another example?
ESTHER POLLARD: Yossi Amit is a case in point. Amit was an officer in the
Israeli army. He was recruited as a spy by the Americans. Amit was exposed
and arrested in Israel shortly after Jonathan's arrest, creating the perfect
opportunity for a spy swap.
IMRA: And did America refuse the swap?
ESTHER POLLARD: Israel never even asked for one!
The whole Amit affair was handled with kid gloves to spare the Americans
embarrassment. Amit was arrested with no publicity and tried in secret. He
served a short sentence and was quietly freed when the Americans indicated
that it was time. Israel zealously guarded the secret of the American spy
they had caught, even as Washington continued to lambaste Israel publicly
for daring to run a spy in the U.S.!
For details readers can have a look at the article "Unexchanged Spies"
.
IMRA: What is the matter with Sharon? Why is he afraid of Jonathan? Why
doesn't he want Jonathan home?
ESTHER POLLARD: The only one who can answer that question is Mr. Sharon
himself. Perhaps he is hiding something, some guilty secret. But he is the
only one who knows what that is.
IMRA: Would you care to hazard a guess?
ESTHER POLLARD: There is evidence to suggest that Sharon was involved in the
Pollard affair up to his eyeballs. Sharon, who was a Cabinet Minister at the
time, was very close with Jonathan's handler, Rafi Eitan. Informed sources
say that Sharon may have been running Jonathan's operation in the U.S and
that he used Eitan for cover.
There is reason to believe that just like former Prime Minister Barak, who
signed off on Jonathan's tasking orders, and subsequently torpedoed every
effort to secure Jonathan's release for fear his own role in the Pollard
affair might come to light, Sharon may simply fear that his own
participation in espionage in the U.S. may be exposed if Jonathan comes
home.
IMRA: But wasn't Sharon the only one in the cabinet who protested Israel's
return of the documents to the U.S. - the documents which incriminated
Jonathan?
ESTHER POLLARD: That too was self-interest. His protest, it appears, was
more to protect himself than Jonathan. After all, in all the years since
then he has remained silent. He knew about the U.S. promise not to use the
documents against Jonathan. He never said a word when they violated that
promise. He never even told Jonathan, so that Jonathan could protect himself
legally. And in all the years since, he has never broken his silence.
IMRA: Let me understand this. Are you saying that as soon as Sharon was
assured there would be no consequences for him personally when the
incriminating documents were handed over to the U.S., he never again
protested their return.
ESTHER POLLARD: That is correct. We believe his only protest, the initial
one, was not to protect Jonathan, but to protect himself. We met with Mr.
Sharon years ago, when he was Leader of the Opposition. We asked him for a
written statement describing the time he protested the return of the
documents in a cabinet meeting. That was all we asked of him and he agreed
at once. For months afterwards we regularly called his office asking for the
statement he had promised. We are still waiting.
IMRA: Esther, how is it that the longer the Pollard case goes on, the worse
it gets? Are you saying that there is no honor, no decency, no morality in
our Government?
ESTHER POLLARD: The facts speak for themselves, Aaron. Nothing that is built
on a lie can endure forever. And this whole case is built on nothing but
lies.
The grandfather of all the lies began when Jonathan was arrested and Israel
disowned him, claiming that he was a mercenary who took part in a rogue
operation. But those lies have been successfully challenged by Jonathan's
previous lawsuits against the Government of Israel.
IMRA: But today it is common knowledge that Jonathan was a bona fide Israeli
agent engaged in a legitimate operation in the United States.
ESTHER POLLARD: True. And today we also know that the U.S. was blind-siding
Israel, not sharing critical information with her, such as Saddam Hussein's
build up of weapons of mass destruction intended for use against Israel.
Jonathan tried to get this information released to Israel through legal
channels. A 1983 letter of understanding between the two countries obliged
the U.S. to inform Israel. When all of Jonathan's efforts to have the
information released legally failed, Jonathan himself warned Israel about
the Butcher of Bagdad's plans to scorch the Jewish State.
IMRA: I wrote an article some time ago about the Eban Commission Report on
the Pollard Case. According to the Eban Report the Government of Israel
claims that it did not turn over the incriminating documents against
Jonathan UNTIL it had first secured a promise from the United States not to
use those documents against Jonathan. But even before the ink was dry on the
agreement, the U.S. used those documents to prosecute Jonathan. Without the
documents that Israel supplied, the U.S. would have had no case against
Jonathan.
ESTHER POLLARD: Exactly! Moreover, the Israeli Government NEVER informed
Jonathan that an agreement existed in which the U.S. pledged that it would
not use these documents to prosecute him. Consequently Jonathan was not able
to defend himself legally when the Americans flagrantly broke that
agreement. And of course when the Americans broke their word and did use the
documents, Israel NEVER protested. The article you wrote, "Stunning New
Revelations in the Pollard Case", is a very important one.
IMRA: This does the Government no credit.
ESTHER POLLARD: What really does the Government of Israel no credit was
their agreeing to return the documents with Jonathan's fingerprints on them
to the U.S. in the first place. In doing so, Israel became the first
country in the history of modern espionage to assist in the prosecution of
its own agent. To this day, Israel is the ONLY country in the world to ever
cooperate in the proscecution of its own agent!
IMRA: There have been many examples of the Government's mishandling of the
Pollard case. The issue of the spy, Angie Kielczynski comes to mind as
another more recent one. IMRA published the English translation of an Israel
Radio interview with Kielczynski after his recent return to Israel from the
U.S. . What do you know
about Kielczynski?
ESTHER POLLARD: Kielczynski, a.k.a. Joseph Barak, is another of Sharon's
chickens come home to roost. Years ago Sharon appointed Kielczynski, a Likud
party activist, to a position on Israel's Foreign Intelligence Committee.
Kielczynski used his position to spy for the U.S. against Israel. He is the
one who fingered Jonathan and triggered his arrest. Kielczynski admits this
openly.
IMRA: Since his return to Israel was Kielczynski ever arrested for spying
against Israel?
ESTHER POLLARD: No. He was never even interrogated. As a Sharon protege he
seems to have special protection.
IMRA: Have you tried to follow up on Kielczynski?
ESTHER POLLARD: We have tried to press the Government of Israel to deal with
this traitor. He spied for the U.S. against Israel and he fingered my
husband. You would think that it would matter to someone.
I personally presented the original Kielczynski Hebrew transcript and the
American news clippings to Sharon right after Kielczynski returned to
Israel. These papers reveal that Kielczynski openly admits to being an
America spy, and that in fact he tried to sue American Intelligence for
pension and other benefits!
IMRA: What was Sharon's reaction?
ESTHER POLLARD: He dismissed the entire Kielczynski affair as if it were a
joke...
IMRA: Is there no light at the end of the tunnel?
ESTHER POLLARD: I am sure that there is light. But it clearly is not coming
from the Government of Israel or the American Jewish leaders. Not for
Jonathan. And not for the Jewish people.
IMRA: Then where will it come from? The U.S. courts?
ESTHER POLLARD: The U.S. Government is stonewalling the case. We have yet to
see any sign of honesty or integrity from that direction. The last thing the
U.S. wants is for the world to fully realize their culpability* in arming
and creating the Iraqi monster that now threatens the world. They want
Jonathan and the truth his case represents to remain buried forever. But
truth, our sages tell us, springs forth no matter how deeply it is buried.
IMRA: So where will you turn for help now?
ESTHER POLLARD: To the only place where it really exists. To the G-d of
Israel.
IMRA: So you'll do nothing. Just pray?
ESTHER POLLARD: No. We will continue to do our part. We will continue our
efforts, and we will continue to exploit every opportunity to seek Jonathan'
s release. It goes without saying, we will continue to put out the truth. We
will persevere in doing the leg work and rely Heaven do the rest. Success is
ultimately in the hands of Heaven.
RELATED REFFERENCE MATERIAL FROM THE J4JP WEB SITE:
HYPERLINK "http://www.jonathanpollard.org"
http://www.jonathanpollard.org
:
*The U.S. - IRAQ Complicity Page http://www.jonathanpollard.org/iraq.htm
Terror in the US and The Jonathan Pollard Case
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2001/092601.htm
The Ghost of Israel's Sealed Rooms
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/1992/060092.htm
Document: Historic Knesset Petition to Free Pollard
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2002/022402.htm
Wye Double Cross Page
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/wye.htm
Stunning New Revelations in the Pollard Case
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2000/061500.htm
Why Jonathan Pollard Got Life - The Victim Impact Statement
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/1997/061397.htm
The True Motives Behind the Sentencing of Jonathan Pollard
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2000/071700a.htm
Transcript: Interview of Kielczynski, Israeli Spy for CIA
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2001/050901a.htm
Unexchanged Spies
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/1997/121297.htm
The Court Case Page
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/court2000.htm
The Facts of the Pollard Case
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/facts.htm
Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730
INTERNET ADDRESS:
imra@netvision.net.il
pager 03-6106666 subscriber 4811
Website: http://www.imra.org.il
Lerner asks Mrs. Pollard for her reaction to Sharon’s Knesset address at the swearing in of the new government on February 27, 2003. Sharon stressed his government’s commitment to releasing Azzam Azzam, an Israeli Druze imprisoned in Egypt who was accused spying for Israel, while omitting any mention of Jonathan Pollard. Unlike the Azzam case, the Israeli government has officially acknowleged that Jonathan Pollard, who then served as an official in the U.S. defense establishment, was a spy working for the Israeli government.
Arutz 7 has reprinted the text of the Lerner – Pollard interview:
IMRA: Esther, I'd like to get your reaction to Prime Minister Sharon's
Knesset Address at the swearing in of the new government on February 27.
Sharon stressed his government's commitment to the release of the Israeli
[Druse], Azzam Azzam from Egypt, ("We will continue to act determinedly to
bring the captured and missing soldiers home, and ensure the release of
Azzam Azzam") and omitted all mention of your husband, Jonathan Pollard.
What do you make of this?
ESTHER POLLARD: It is shocking but not surprising.
IMRA: Shocking? Surprising? How?
ESTHER POLLARD: Sharon's omission of Jonathan while the eyes of the world
were upon him was calculated. The message was not lost on the Americans;
namely that Pollard is a non-issue for Israel.
This is shocking. Jonathan is an Israeli agent in peril. If that were not
reason enough for the PM to vigorously seek his repatriation, then consider
that Jonathan is THE Israeli agent who warned Israel about the threat to her
existence posed by Iraq, and prepared her for the Gulf War.
Israel is once again gearing up for war with Iraq, providing gas masks and
chemical kits to her citizens. Israel has these civilian defenses today
thanks to the service of Jonathan Pollard. But Sharon's attitude towards him
remains ungrateful and indifferent.
IMRA: That's not surprising?
ESTHER POLLARD: No. For years Sharon has been consistent in his antipathy
towards Jonathan.
IMRA: As I recall, the late Minister Rechavam Ze'evi pleaded with Sharon not
to abandon Jonathan, " a wounded soldier in the field," and he was deeply
troubled by the PM's response. Is that what you are referring to?
ESTHER POLLARD: Yes. Not long after Sharon first took office, we met with
him and provided him with an effective plan to secure Jonathan's release.
Sharon refused to act upon it or any other initiative. After the meeting,
Sharon privately made it clear to Rechavam that the only way he is prepared
to bring Pollard home is in a coffin, G-d Forbid! Rechavam immediately
reported this to us. He was deeply shaken. All of Sharon's actions since
then have been consistently hostile.
IMRA: Esther, let's digress for a moment. Can you tell me how you respond to
people who blame you for Jonathan's plight? The ones who say that if you
would co-operate with the Government instead of criticizing them, Jonathan
would have been out long ago?
ESTHER POLLARD: Aaron, blaming the victim is a convenient excuse for
inaction. For more than a decade Jonathan cooperated fully with the
Government of Israel, and he remained silent while they subverted his case
and buried him alive. After 10 years, Jonathan finally realized that his
cooperation was merely facilitating Israel's plan to keep him in prison, and
that he had to speak out.
IMRA: And that is where you come in?
ESTHER POLLARD: I am Jonathan's voice in the outside world, by necessity. I
speak for him where he is not permitted to do so for himself.
IMRA: So what about those people who say they cannot help Jonathan because
you are too antagonistic or too aggressive?
ESTHER POLLARD: (Sighs) The implications of this case transcend the life of
one man, and impact on Israel and the Jewish community at large. Jewish
leaders - fearful of their own standing in the United States - prefer to
duck the larger issues. Many use personal attacks against us to justify
their cowardice and indifference. I do not think anyone is fooled. After
all, this is not a popularity contest. Jewish leaders do not have to like me
or Jonathan to insist upon equal justice for one of their own.
IMRA: Again, Esther, you keep exposing and embarrassing those who say that
they are committed to your husband's release.
ESTHER POLLARD: Aaron, we understand that in the world of realpolitik, you
do not bite the hand that feeds you. But if that hand, instead of feeding
you, is on your throat and silently choking you to death, you had better
stop the charade and quickly.
IMRA: You have said in previous interviews that there is a conflict between
the public posture of the Israeli Government which is intended for domestic
consumption only, and their position behind the scenes in Washington.
ESTHER POLLARD: That's right. The same is true of American Jewish leaders.
They are hand-in-glove with the Israeli Government on the issue of Jonathan
Pollard - publicly posturing for their home constituency, while privately
sabotaging and undermining efforts on Capitol Hill and in the White House
for Jonathan's release.
IMRA: Let's get back to Sharon and his recent Knesset speech which
emphasizes his government's commitment to Azzam Azzam's release and
significantly omits all mention of Jonathan.
ESTHER POLLARD: Perhaps one of the most damning observations we can make
about it is that there was not a word of protest from anyone in the Knesset
about the omission of Jonathan Pollard during Sharon's speech or afterwards.
Several years ago, then-President Clinton visited the Knesset. He gave a
wonderful speech, and all the MKs were overwhelmed by the President's
message of American friendship and love for Israel. Nevertheless, one lone
MK rose to his feet, and in the midst of the President's love-in with the
Knesset, cried out from depths of his soul, "MR. PRESIDENT, WHAT ABOUT
JONATHAN POLLARD?!!!"
IMRA: I remember that. It was Rechavam Ze'evi.
ESTHER POLLARD: Yes. And that was really breaking decorum, since Clinton was
a foreign dignitary. It should have been easier to remind our own Prime
Minister: WHAT ABOUT JONATHAN POLLARD?!!! What about our agent in
captivity - the one who enabled Israel to protect herself with gas masks and
sealed rooms against the threat of annihilation by Iraq?!!!
IMRA: But no one did.
ESTHER POLLARD: No. And Sharon is calculating: he would NEVER have dared
omit Jonathan if he had thought that there would be any word of protest.
IMRA: So where are all of Jonathan's friends in the Knesset? What is the
Knesset Lobby doing for Jonathan?
ESTHER POLLARD: What Knesset Lobby? Since Rechavam Ze'evi died, there has
been no Knesset Lobby, except perhaps in name only. And even when Rechavam
was alive, the Lobby did very little.
IMRA: But what about all of the Cabinet Ministers who visited Jonathan?
Where are they today?
ESTHER POLLARD: The photo-ops are long gone and they are nowhere to be seen.
IMRA: Again, Esther, is there anything to gain in your being so outspoken
about the Government's repeated failures? Aren't you afraid that they may
not help you if you criticize them?
ESTHER POLLARD: Aaron, they have not helped for 18 years. We are not afraid
that they will stop helping when they never started. There is a real danger,
however, in playing along with the false public perception that they are
doing something to help Jonathan.
Let me give you an analogy. A battered wife puts on such a brave front that
even her close friends do not know that she is being abused. After years of
suffering, she can endure no more and decides she must save herself and her
children and she files for divorce. Of course, no one believes her because
she has done such a good job of portraying her husband as a fine person.
Instead they believe her husband when he describes her as mentally unstable
and he claims custody of the children and all the assets. After all, he
says, if she wants to divorce someone as wonderful as he is, she must be
crazy!
IMRA: So you are saying that this is the analogy for Jonathan and the
Government of Israel? And what you are doing now is not criticizing but just
telling the truth?
ESTHER POLLARD: Exactly, Aaron. After all, there is no advantage in
criticizing those from whom you still expect help. We are not foolish enough
to expect that after 18 years the Government of Israel or the American
Jewish leadership is going to finally abandon its lies and its posturing and
ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING TO SAVE JONATHAN.
The information that we are putting out now is mainly for the record. It is
the counterbalance to the kind of propaganda that the Government of Israel
keeps putting out. Did you hear the propaganda piece that they did on Kol
Yisrael Radio yesterday? Did you notice how untimely, how negative the piece
was?
IMRA: You mean the "Moments in History" piece on Jonathan?
ESTHER POLLARD: Yes. If this were the anniversary of Jonathan's arrest, or
if it were his birthday, or some special day, then it would make sense to
have a radio flashback about him. Or if the approaching war with Iraq and
Jonathan's role in alerting Israel had been mentioned at all, then it would
have been timely, and there would be no reason to regard it as propaganda.
But that was not the case.
IMRA: So why do you think they ran this Pollard item now?
ESTHER POLLARD: Azzam Azzam. Think of Sharon's Knesset speech. This piece,
on a government-controlled radio station, was intended to condition the
listening public NOT to expect Jonathan Pollard home any time soon.
IMRA: I see. And they even ended the piece saying that all the governments
of Israel had tried to release Jonathan but failed "in spite of their best
efforts."
ESTHER POLLARD: Yes. The piece was completely negative. It spoke of how the
Pollard affair "strained U.S.-Israel relations" and it quoted an American
president saying that "espionage costs the U.S. billions of dollars every
year". The quote did not refer specifically to Jonathan's espionage, but it
implied that this is what Jonathan's spying cost the U.S.
That is, of course, an outright lie! There is not a shred of evidence to
support such allegations. That is why these accusations have always been
made in the media, never in a court of law where Jonathan could challenge
them. I should point out, Aaron, that when American officials do level these
charges specifically against Jonathan in the media, the amount of financial
damage they claim is invariably equal to the amount of foreign aide that
Israel receives from America!
IMRA: So after making this insidious statement, implying that Jonathan cost
the U.S. billions of dollars...
ESTHER POLLARD: The piece then concluded that in spite of the efforts of
every government since 1985, the Americans show no interest in releasing
Jonathan Pollard. Listeners were given the distinct impression that the
Americans are justified in continuing to punish Jonathan well beyond the
norm.
So, to continue the battered wife analogy, the big lie is that the
Government of Israel continues to claim that it has made repeated and
serious efforts to secure Jonathan's release, while at the same time
implying that somehow Jonathan is just so bad that the U.S. cannot or will
not release him. This is a blatant lie. If Israel had invested one tenth of
the effort to free Jonathan that it has expended in keeping him buried
alive, he would have been freed long ago. We allowed the big lie to go
unchallenged for many years, as we waited for Israel to act in good faith.
That is never going to happen, and we can no longer remain silent.
IMRA: It is troubling ...
ESTHER POLLARD: Aaron, let's not even talk about the debt of gratitude that
they owe Jonathan in preparing Israel for the Gulf War or for the
approaching war with Iraq. All we are talking about is the Israeli
Government's legal and moral obligation to an Israeli agent. Israel has
violated that obligation repeatedly for the last 18 years and exacerbated
Jonathan's situation by repeatedly lying about its own efforts and its
intentions.
IMRA: What is the connection with Azzam Azzam?
ESTHER POLLARD: Sharon is calculating. He would not have mentioned Azzam
Azzam in his Knesset speech if he did not think he could deliver on Azzam's
release, and soon.
IMRA: And Sharon is supposed to travel to Egypt soon to meet with Egyptian
President Mubarak. You think that that is what is in the works?
ESTHER POLLARD: These things do not happen in a vacuum. I think that Sharon
believes that that is what is in the works and that is why he set up a
positive expectation for the release of Azzam Azzam in his Knesset speech;
and as a precaution, a negative expectation for Jonathan's release on Kol
Yisrael Radio.
IMRA: What do you think the outcome of the pitch for Azzam Azzam will be?
ESTHER POLLARD: While no one can predict future events with certainty, my
husband has taught me that those who fail to learn from history are doomed
to repeat the same mistakes. Aaron, do you remember that at Wye, Israel
attempted to secure the release of Azzam Azzam?
IMRA: I recall that. It was eclipsed by all the static about Jonathan's
release.
ESTHER POLLARD: In a nutshell, the Egyptians made it very clear that they
were not going to do the U.S. any favors. They told the U.S., ' You have
your own Israeli prisoner (Jonathan Pollard) - you can let him go. Why
should we give up our Israeli prisoner if you do not give up yours?'
IMRA: I remember. There was talk at the time about a quid pro quo: that IF
America freed Jonathan, Egypt would free Azzam Azzam.
ESTHER POLLARD: That's right. There was high hope for a brief while that
Jonathan's freedom might bring Azzam Azzam's freedom in its wake. When the
U.S. reneged on its commitment to free Jonathan - which was an integral part
of the Wye Accords - Israel never protested and never insisted that the U.S.
live up to its end of the deal.
If readers want to understand what really happened at Wye, they should read
"Terror in the U.S. and the Jonathan Pollard Case" by Larry Dub, which is on
the J4JP web site In fact
there is an entire sub page of articles dealing with the double-cross at Wye
.
IMRA: Speaking of Wye, have you been in touch with Binyamin Netanyahu?
ESTHER POLLARD: I met with him at the beginning of December 2002, in his
official role as Foreign Minister.
IMRA: Did he offer any help?
ESTHER POLLARD: He said he could do nothing on his own and suggested that we
meet with PM Sharon. We, meaning Larry Dub (Jonathan's attorney), and HaRav
Eliyahu (Jonathan's rabbi) and me. We asked Bibi to set up the meeting with
Sharon.
IMRA: Do you call him "Bibi" to his face?
ESTHER POLLARD: Yes. He knows we have great affection for him, and he is
very personal with us as well.
We also asked Bibi to send the Ambassador in Washington to see Jonathan. He
immediately agreed to both requests. When we spoke to him the next day, he
told us that he had gotten the OK from Sharon for a meeting with us and also
the OK to dispatch the Ambassador to see Jonathan.
IMRA: The Foreign Minister had to ask the Prime Minister for permission to
dispatch an ambassador?
ESTHER POLLARD: Yes, or it would be vetoed by Sharon, he explained.
IMRA: Did you meet with Sharon? Did the Ambassador see Jonathan?
ESTHER POLLARD: No to both questions.
IMRA: Why not?
ESTHER POLLARD: After giving Bibi the go-ahead, Sharon's office played games
with us for weeks and simply REFUSED to set a date for either of these
meetings. Dov Weisglass, Sharon's bureau chief was rude to us and to our
attorney on the phone and in written communications. He made it very clear
that neither he nor Prime Minister Sharon was about to waste any time on
Jonathan Pollard, Israel's incarcerated agent.
IMRA: Wow!
ESTHER POLLARD: Stunning, isn't it?
IMRA: Does Mr. Netanyahu know this?
ESTHER POLLARD: Yes.
IMRA: Did he follow up with Sharon? After all, Netanyahu was promised the
meetings by Sharon.
ESTHER POLLARD: No. Not as far as we are aware.
IMRA: And Netanyahu has not said a word about Jonathan publicly, has he?
ESTHER POLLARD: No.
IMRA: How do you feel about that?
ESTHER POLLARD: We are saddened by this. We look at Bibi and we see the
potential for greatness. He has a good heart and he means well. But he fears
man when he should fear only Heaven. And that has repeatedly been his
undoing.
IMRA: So Sharon is a better candidate for the job?
ESTHER POLLARD: Aaron, you tell me which one is better. The end result is
unfortunately the same. Our Prime Ministers fear George Bush, not G-d. They
act out of self-interest, not devotion to our country and our people.
Unfortunately, this is true of the Knesset as a whole.
IMRA: Isn't that kind of a sweeping statement?
ESTHER POLLARD: How else do you explain a Government and a Knesset that are
in a head-long rush to deliver up our country and people to our sworn
enemies who have not honored a single commitment to us and who continue to
slaughter us wantonly?
Even those factions that remain outside of the Government have not done so
out of principle. Had they been invited to a place at the trough, they too
would have invented some excuse to justify signing an agreement that
mandates the creation of a Palestinian state committed to our destruction.
The very Government mind-set that originally deemed Jonathan Pollard
"expendable" now sets the paradigm for its treatment of the entire country
as expendable.
IMRA: Is there no one in the Knesset that you see as setting a better
example? The religious parties perhaps? Or the right wing parties?
ESTHER POLLARD: It is a contradiction in terms to endorse - explicitly or
implicitly- the creation of a Palestinian State, one that is devoted to our
destruction, and to still declare oneself as nationalist, religious or right
wing. Similarly, there is nothing nationalist or religious about their
abandonment of my husband.
IMRA: Have you approached any MKs recently?
ESTHER POLLARD: Two separate appeals were made in recent days. One of them
was just prior to the elections, when a call went out to all the factions to
add Jonathan's name to all of the party lists. Such a symbolic gesture, it
was felt, might send a message to the Americans about the importance of the
release of Jonathan Pollard. This gesture would have cost the parties
nothing and might have helped Jonathan.
IMRA: Other than the party (Herut) that made this call to the others, did
any other faction respond? Did anyone else offer to list Jonathan as a
symbolic candidate?
ESTHER POLLARD: No. Not even one.
IMRA: And after the elections?
ESTHER POLLARD: After the elections our attorney, Larry Dub, sent a letter
to every single faction head and asked them to remember Jonathan during
their negotiations to form a government. He asked them to include a
commitment to seek Jonathan's release in the Kavai Yesod (Basic Principles)
of the Government.
IMRA: No one did.
ESTHER POLLARD: The heartbreaker is that they did not even try.
IMRA: Why?
ESTHER POLLARD: Nothing personal against Jonathan. Just that he is a
non-issue. The average MK would certainly like Jonathan home, ditto the
Ministers; but they are not about to expend any political capital whatsoever
on anything - including Jonathan - if it does not provide them with some
immediate personal advantage or add to their own political aggrandizement.
IMRA: What about all those Ministers who visited Jonathan? People like Yuli
Edelstein, Limor Livnat, Dani Naveh and Eli Yishai.
ESTHER POLLARD: The last ministerial visit took place in 1998. The visits
provided PR for the Ministers and nothing for Jonathan. The visits raised
the expectation that the Government of Israel would make a real push for
Jonathan's release, but that never happened. And they raised the expectation
that these ministers would be staunch allies to our cause and really help
us. That never happened either.
IMRA: Can't you take legal action against the Government of Israel?
ESTHER POLLARD: Jonathan sued the Government in the Supreme Court of Israel
in 1999. In response, the Government made specific promises to the Supreme
Court. These promises included intensive efforts without delay to seek
Jonathan's immediate release, and the promise of financial support past,
present and future, for Jonathan and his wife. Six months later we informed
the Court that the Government had taken no steps to fulfill any of its
promises; indeed that the Government had not even been in contact with
Jonathan or his representatives that whole time.
IMRA: How did the Court respond?
ESTHER POLLARD: The Supreme Court did NOT ask the Government to show good
faith by executing its promises. It merely "expressed its confidence" that
the Government would make good on its promises to secure Jonathan's release
and to take care of him, and then it dismissed the case.
IMRA: Has the Government made good on any of those promises since then?
ESTHER POLLARD: No.
IMRA: Do you or Jonathan, for example, receive any financial assistance from
the Government of Israel?
ESTHER POLLARD: Not a cent. Not now. Not before. Not ever.
IMRA: What about the offer of 2 million dollars that the Government claimed
it made to Jonathan a little while ago? It was all over the press about a
year ago.
ESTHER POLLARD: That was just a cheap publicity stunt designed to undermine
public support for Jonathan. There never was any intention of making good on
an offer that was trumpeted in the media. Aaron, did you ever read or hear
in the media that the family of Azzam Azzam receives government support?
IMRA: No.
ESTHER POLLARD: Our attorney asked Dani Naveh (who was in charge of the
Azzam Azzam file) why it is not publicly known that the Government provides
financial help to Azzam Azzam? Naveh responded, "Are you kidding?! That
would hurt Azzam Azzam!" Larry was furious, and he said to Dani, "You are
careful not to hurt Azzam Azzam, but you had no such compunction about the
damage you did to Jonathan by announcing a bogus money offer in the media!"
It was Dani's office which did Sharon the favor of leaking this money offer
to the media.
IMRA: How did Naveh respond?
ESTHER POLLARD: With protestations of innocence and honest intent. The
bitter irony is that recently, more than a year later, Naveh had occasion to
call our attorney Larry Dub on another matter. As they were getting off the
phone, Naveh said, "Oh by the way Larry, what ever happened to the 2 million
dollar offer? Did Jonathan ever get the money?"
IMRA: You mean Naveh announced the deal, insisted it was genuine, and did
not stick around to watch the Government shaft Jonathan?
ESTHER POLLARD: Naveh allowed himself to be Sharon's patsy. He used Jonathan
to prove to Sharon he could be trusted as a Sharon team-player. Dani would
like Jonathan home; but he likes being Minister of Health in the new Sharon
Government much more.
IMRA: What about the person who was appointed as the Government's contact
person on the Pollard case?
ESTHER POLLARD: Moshe Kochanovsky. Totally useless. We sent dozens of
letters to Kochanovsky that were never answered; finally we stopped the
charade. No matter what we asked Kochanovsky for - whether it was to help us
get back into court in America, or for help with Jonathan's numerous medical
problems - he had a routine response. First he would stall for months and
then he would reply that whatever we were asking for is "outside of his area
of authority." Apparently, there was nothing in his area of authority except
to act as a dead letter drop for the Pollard case.
IMRA: Has the Mossad been of any help? I know Jonathan worked for LAKAM, not
the Mossad, but one would think that the Mossad would nevertheless lend a
hand to a fellow agent.
ESTHER POLLARD: We recently sent a representative to meet with Meir Dagan,
the new head of the Mossad. He is a colleague of Dagan's and Dagan was not
expecting him to bring up the issue of Jonathan Pollard. When he did, Dagan
treated him like a fool, and dismissed him. So much for help from the
Mossad.
IMRA: What about Avi Dichter?
ESTHER POLLARD: No different than Dagan. Dichter, by the way, has a good
relationship with Jonathan's rabbi, HaRav Mordecai Eliyahu. It is funny how
many people have close connections HaRav Eliyahu, but when it comes to
Pollard, they don't want to know the rabbi.
IMRA: Okay. So what about that magnificent historical letter signed by 110
members of Knesset .
Whatever became of that? Did the Knesset ever follow up? Did George Bush
ever respond?
ESTHER POLLARD: No follow up. No response. Sharon did not deliver the letter
to Bush as he promised but to a low level person in Condoleezza Rice's
office. The Knesset never bothered to follow up. And the Americans got the
message.
IMRA: What about a spy swap? Was that ever suggested to the Americans? Do we
have anyone they want?
ESTHER POLLARD: Aaron, the Americans get whatever they want from Israel for
free. They say jump and Israel says how high. Take, for example, the 750
murderers and terrorists with blood on their hands that Israel freed after
Wye. Those murderers, along with immunity for terrorist chief Ghazi Jabali,
were the price Israel had agreed to pay for Jonathan. Israel released them
all and the U.S. never lived up to its end of the bargain. To this day
Israel has never protested, never even tried to collect on Jonathan's
release.
IMRA: Can you give me another example?
ESTHER POLLARD: Yossi Amit is a case in point. Amit was an officer in the
Israeli army. He was recruited as a spy by the Americans. Amit was exposed
and arrested in Israel shortly after Jonathan's arrest, creating the perfect
opportunity for a spy swap.
IMRA: And did America refuse the swap?
ESTHER POLLARD: Israel never even asked for one!
The whole Amit affair was handled with kid gloves to spare the Americans
embarrassment. Amit was arrested with no publicity and tried in secret. He
served a short sentence and was quietly freed when the Americans indicated
that it was time. Israel zealously guarded the secret of the American spy
they had caught, even as Washington continued to lambaste Israel publicly
for daring to run a spy in the U.S.!
For details readers can have a look at the article "Unexchanged Spies"
.
IMRA: What is the matter with Sharon? Why is he afraid of Jonathan? Why
doesn't he want Jonathan home?
ESTHER POLLARD: The only one who can answer that question is Mr. Sharon
himself. Perhaps he is hiding something, some guilty secret. But he is the
only one who knows what that is.
IMRA: Would you care to hazard a guess?
ESTHER POLLARD: There is evidence to suggest that Sharon was involved in the
Pollard affair up to his eyeballs. Sharon, who was a Cabinet Minister at the
time, was very close with Jonathan's handler, Rafi Eitan. Informed sources
say that Sharon may have been running Jonathan's operation in the U.S and
that he used Eitan for cover.
There is reason to believe that just like former Prime Minister Barak, who
signed off on Jonathan's tasking orders, and subsequently torpedoed every
effort to secure Jonathan's release for fear his own role in the Pollard
affair might come to light, Sharon may simply fear that his own
participation in espionage in the U.S. may be exposed if Jonathan comes
home.
IMRA: But wasn't Sharon the only one in the cabinet who protested Israel's
return of the documents to the U.S. - the documents which incriminated
Jonathan?
ESTHER POLLARD: That too was self-interest. His protest, it appears, was
more to protect himself than Jonathan. After all, in all the years since
then he has remained silent. He knew about the U.S. promise not to use the
documents against Jonathan. He never said a word when they violated that
promise. He never even told Jonathan, so that Jonathan could protect himself
legally. And in all the years since, he has never broken his silence.
IMRA: Let me understand this. Are you saying that as soon as Sharon was
assured there would be no consequences for him personally when the
incriminating documents were handed over to the U.S., he never again
protested their return.
ESTHER POLLARD: That is correct. We believe his only protest, the initial
one, was not to protect Jonathan, but to protect himself. We met with Mr.
Sharon years ago, when he was Leader of the Opposition. We asked him for a
written statement describing the time he protested the return of the
documents in a cabinet meeting. That was all we asked of him and he agreed
at once. For months afterwards we regularly called his office asking for the
statement he had promised. We are still waiting.
IMRA: Esther, how is it that the longer the Pollard case goes on, the worse
it gets? Are you saying that there is no honor, no decency, no morality in
our Government?
ESTHER POLLARD: The facts speak for themselves, Aaron. Nothing that is built
on a lie can endure forever. And this whole case is built on nothing but
lies.
The grandfather of all the lies began when Jonathan was arrested and Israel
disowned him, claiming that he was a mercenary who took part in a rogue
operation. But those lies have been successfully challenged by Jonathan's
previous lawsuits against the Government of Israel.
IMRA: But today it is common knowledge that Jonathan was a bona fide Israeli
agent engaged in a legitimate operation in the United States.
ESTHER POLLARD: True. And today we also know that the U.S. was blind-siding
Israel, not sharing critical information with her, such as Saddam Hussein's
build up of weapons of mass destruction intended for use against Israel.
Jonathan tried to get this information released to Israel through legal
channels. A 1983 letter of understanding between the two countries obliged
the U.S. to inform Israel. When all of Jonathan's efforts to have the
information released legally failed, Jonathan himself warned Israel about
the Butcher of Bagdad's plans to scorch the Jewish State.
IMRA: I wrote an article some time ago about the Eban Commission Report on
the Pollard Case. According to the Eban Report the Government of Israel
claims that it did not turn over the incriminating documents against
Jonathan UNTIL it had first secured a promise from the United States not to
use those documents against Jonathan. But even before the ink was dry on the
agreement, the U.S. used those documents to prosecute Jonathan. Without the
documents that Israel supplied, the U.S. would have had no case against
Jonathan.
ESTHER POLLARD: Exactly! Moreover, the Israeli Government NEVER informed
Jonathan that an agreement existed in which the U.S. pledged that it would
not use these documents to prosecute him. Consequently Jonathan was not able
to defend himself legally when the Americans flagrantly broke that
agreement. And of course when the Americans broke their word and did use the
documents, Israel NEVER protested. The article you wrote, "Stunning New
Revelations in the Pollard Case", is a very important one.
IMRA: This does the Government no credit.
ESTHER POLLARD: What really does the Government of Israel no credit was
their agreeing to return the documents with Jonathan's fingerprints on them
to the U.S. in the first place. In doing so, Israel became the first
country in the history of modern espionage to assist in the prosecution of
its own agent. To this day, Israel is the ONLY country in the world to ever
cooperate in the proscecution of its own agent!
IMRA: There have been many examples of the Government's mishandling of the
Pollard case. The issue of the spy, Angie Kielczynski comes to mind as
another more recent one. IMRA published the English translation of an Israel
Radio interview with Kielczynski after his recent return to Israel from the
U.S. . What do you know
about Kielczynski?
ESTHER POLLARD: Kielczynski, a.k.a. Joseph Barak, is another of Sharon's
chickens come home to roost. Years ago Sharon appointed Kielczynski, a Likud
party activist, to a position on Israel's Foreign Intelligence Committee.
Kielczynski used his position to spy for the U.S. against Israel. He is the
one who fingered Jonathan and triggered his arrest. Kielczynski admits this
openly.
IMRA: Since his return to Israel was Kielczynski ever arrested for spying
against Israel?
ESTHER POLLARD: No. He was never even interrogated. As a Sharon protege he
seems to have special protection.
IMRA: Have you tried to follow up on Kielczynski?
ESTHER POLLARD: We have tried to press the Government of Israel to deal with
this traitor. He spied for the U.S. against Israel and he fingered my
husband. You would think that it would matter to someone.
I personally presented the original Kielczynski Hebrew transcript and the
American news clippings to Sharon right after Kielczynski returned to
Israel. These papers reveal that Kielczynski openly admits to being an
America spy, and that in fact he tried to sue American Intelligence for
pension and other benefits!
IMRA: What was Sharon's reaction?
ESTHER POLLARD: He dismissed the entire Kielczynski affair as if it were a
joke...
IMRA: Is there no light at the end of the tunnel?
ESTHER POLLARD: I am sure that there is light. But it clearly is not coming
from the Government of Israel or the American Jewish leaders. Not for
Jonathan. And not for the Jewish people.
IMRA: Then where will it come from? The U.S. courts?
ESTHER POLLARD: The U.S. Government is stonewalling the case. We have yet to
see any sign of honesty or integrity from that direction. The last thing the
U.S. wants is for the world to fully realize their culpability* in arming
and creating the Iraqi monster that now threatens the world. They want
Jonathan and the truth his case represents to remain buried forever. But
truth, our sages tell us, springs forth no matter how deeply it is buried.
IMRA: So where will you turn for help now?
ESTHER POLLARD: To the only place where it really exists. To the G-d of
Israel.
IMRA: So you'll do nothing. Just pray?
ESTHER POLLARD: No. We will continue to do our part. We will continue our
efforts, and we will continue to exploit every opportunity to seek Jonathan'
s release. It goes without saying, we will continue to put out the truth. We
will persevere in doing the leg work and rely Heaven do the rest. Success is
ultimately in the hands of Heaven.
RELATED REFFERENCE MATERIAL FROM THE J4JP WEB SITE:
HYPERLINK "http://www.jonathanpollard.org"
http://www.jonathanpollard.org
:
*The U.S. - IRAQ Complicity Page http://www.jonathanpollard.org/iraq.htm
Terror in the US and The Jonathan Pollard Case
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2001/092601.htm
The Ghost of Israel's Sealed Rooms
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/1992/060092.htm
Document: Historic Knesset Petition to Free Pollard
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2002/022402.htm
Wye Double Cross Page
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/wye.htm
Stunning New Revelations in the Pollard Case
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2000/061500.htm
Why Jonathan Pollard Got Life - The Victim Impact Statement
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/1997/061397.htm
The True Motives Behind the Sentencing of Jonathan Pollard
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2000/071700a.htm
Transcript: Interview of Kielczynski, Israeli Spy for CIA
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2001/050901a.htm
Unexchanged Spies
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/1997/121297.htm
The Court Case Page
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/court2000.htm
The Facts of the Pollard Case
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/facts.htm
Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730
INTERNET ADDRESS:
imra@netvision.net.il
pager 03-6106666 subscriber 4811
Website: http://www.imra.org.il