On Monday, March 22, a pre-Passover march-and-demonstration will be held on behalf of Jonathan Pollard. Participants will meet at 11 AM in Sataf, northwest of Jerusalem, and will march to the American Consulate on Agron St. in the capital, where they will call for Pollard's release. "Pollard must be released now," they will say, "in time to be home to celebrate Passover, the Holiday of Freedom, in Jerusalem." Those who wish to take part only in the last leg of the march can meet the group at 3:30 PM near Yad VaShem, from where they will continue to Sacher Park and the American Consulate. The demonstration opposite the consulate is scheduled to begin at 4:30 PM.
Jonathan Pollard, employed as a civilian American Naval intelligence analyst, discovered in the early-mid 1980's that information vital to Israel's security was being withheld from Israel. This, despite a 1983 Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries mandating the transfer of this information. The withheld information included the development of Syrian, Iraqi, Libyan and Iranian ballistic, nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare capabilities for use against Israel, as well as planned terrorist attacks against Israeli civilian targets. After he tried and failed to have the flow of information to Israel restored, Pollard began to give the information to Israel directly. In 1985, he was sentenced - not in a trial, but as the result of a plea agreement - to life in prison. He was accused not of treason, nor of compromising US agents or codes - but of passing classified information to an ally, without intent to harm the United States. The median sentence for this offense is 2-4 years; only Pollard has ever received a life sentence. **
Pollard was not a mercenary - a conclusion reached by the FBI after nine months of polygraph tests. His ideological motivation was recognized by the sentencing judge, who declined to fine Pollard. Israel, though its embassy in Washington refused to grant him asylum when he was caught, formally acknowledged in May 1998 that Pollard had been a bona fide Israeli agent. In November 1995, Israel granted him Israeli citizenship.
Jonathan Pollard is now well into the 19th year of his life sentence. All 112 non-Arab-party MKs recently signed a petition on behalf of Pollard, and gave it to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to present to U.S. President Bush - which he did not do. Pollard supporters say that this is symptomatic of Sharon's lack of efforts to secure Pollard's release.
Jonathan Pollard, employed as a civilian American Naval intelligence analyst, discovered in the early-mid 1980's that information vital to Israel's security was being withheld from Israel. This, despite a 1983 Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries mandating the transfer of this information. The withheld information included the development of Syrian, Iraqi, Libyan and Iranian ballistic, nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare capabilities for use against Israel, as well as planned terrorist attacks against Israeli civilian targets. After he tried and failed to have the flow of information to Israel restored, Pollard began to give the information to Israel directly. In 1985, he was sentenced - not in a trial, but as the result of a plea agreement - to life in prison. He was accused not of treason, nor of compromising US agents or codes - but of passing classified information to an ally, without intent to harm the United States. The median sentence for this offense is 2-4 years; only Pollard has ever received a life sentence. **
Pollard was not a mercenary - a conclusion reached by the FBI after nine months of polygraph tests. His ideological motivation was recognized by the sentencing judge, who declined to fine Pollard. Israel, though its embassy in Washington refused to grant him asylum when he was caught, formally acknowledged in May 1998 that Pollard had been a bona fide Israeli agent. In November 1995, Israel granted him Israeli citizenship.
Jonathan Pollard is now well into the 19th year of his life sentence. All 112 non-Arab-party MKs recently signed a petition on behalf of Pollard, and gave it to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to present to U.S. President Bush - which he did not do. Pollard supporters say that this is symptomatic of Sharon's lack of efforts to secure Pollard's release.