Noked, who was named a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office when Labor joined the coalition last month, spoke with Arutz-7 last night. "There is now an unusually good opportunity to say to the American Administration that the time has come to release Pollard as well," she said. "When Israel is asked to make gestures of this sort - and I'm happy about this opportunity to promote peace and the disengagement - it is appropriate for the U.S. to make the same type of gesture towards Israel."
A-7's Amatzia HaEitan noted that there have been other opportunities for Prime Minister Sharon to make this type of demand, yet he has not done so. "I have never lost hope," Noked said. "It appears that now, after four and a half years of intifada, there is a special feeling that something else is happening – and so I'm trying. The Americans, after all, have a great part in this process. I also feel that there will be more demands made upon us; there is certainly room for us to make this demand."
Pollard is now in his 20th year of a life sentence for passing classified information to U.S. ally Israel.
MK Noked said that she sent a letter to Sharon and has been interviewed in the media, but has not been able to speak with him personally about the issue.
Noked said that she visited Pollard a year ago, "and we make contact with people close to him. He is very frustrated – and chiefly at our government and Prime Minister Sharon, not at the Israeli public. Many of our youth do not give up... I thought that it would be appropriate to harness for this purpose not just the youth associated with the religious-Zionist public; since I also head the Knesset lobby for youth, I have called a meeting and plan to bring up this issue there. I believe that this is something that crosses all borders, and it's already time to bring Pollard home. They released Azzam Azzam and Elchanan Tenenbaum, and I can't understand why Pollard is still in prison. He has already served his time, and much more."
Eli Joseph, a long-time activist on behalf of Pollard – in 2000, he held a five-month hunger strike on his behalf, followed later by another, shorter one – says that Israel must show that its demand for Pollard's release is a moral one. "We don't have to ask for favors," Joseph says, "nor does that approach work. We have morality on our side, and that's the only way for us to achieve his release."
Joseph said that he has said as much to MKs and ministers, asking them to make their support for the release of Arab terrorist prisoners contingent upon the release of Jonathan Pollard.
U.S. Congressman Anthony D. Weiner (D-NY) wrote a letter to U.S. President George Bush last year requesting clemency for Pollard. The letter stated,
"...No other person convicted of espionage on behalf of an United States ally has ever been imprisoned for so long. Mr. Pollard has admitted he broke U.S. laws. He has expressed sorrow for what he did. Mr. Pollard cooperated fully with the investigation into his activities and he waived his right to a jury trial. He has served more than enough time for the crime of passing information to an ally. The life sentence which Jonathan Pollard is now serving is not a reflection of the severity of the crimes he committed, but rather the result of ineffective counsel..."
A-7's Amatzia HaEitan noted that there have been other opportunities for Prime Minister Sharon to make this type of demand, yet he has not done so. "I have never lost hope," Noked said. "It appears that now, after four and a half years of intifada, there is a special feeling that something else is happening – and so I'm trying. The Americans, after all, have a great part in this process. I also feel that there will be more demands made upon us; there is certainly room for us to make this demand."
Pollard is now in his 20th year of a life sentence for passing classified information to U.S. ally Israel.
MK Noked said that she sent a letter to Sharon and has been interviewed in the media, but has not been able to speak with him personally about the issue.
Noked said that she visited Pollard a year ago, "and we make contact with people close to him. He is very frustrated – and chiefly at our government and Prime Minister Sharon, not at the Israeli public. Many of our youth do not give up... I thought that it would be appropriate to harness for this purpose not just the youth associated with the religious-Zionist public; since I also head the Knesset lobby for youth, I have called a meeting and plan to bring up this issue there. I believe that this is something that crosses all borders, and it's already time to bring Pollard home. They released Azzam Azzam and Elchanan Tenenbaum, and I can't understand why Pollard is still in prison. He has already served his time, and much more."
Eli Joseph, a long-time activist on behalf of Pollard – in 2000, he held a five-month hunger strike on his behalf, followed later by another, shorter one – says that Israel must show that its demand for Pollard's release is a moral one. "We don't have to ask for favors," Joseph says, "nor does that approach work. We have morality on our side, and that's the only way for us to achieve his release."
Joseph said that he has said as much to MKs and ministers, asking them to make their support for the release of Arab terrorist prisoners contingent upon the release of Jonathan Pollard.
U.S. Congressman Anthony D. Weiner (D-NY) wrote a letter to U.S. President George Bush last year requesting clemency for Pollard. The letter stated,
"...No other person convicted of espionage on behalf of an United States ally has ever been imprisoned for so long. Mr. Pollard has admitted he broke U.S. laws. He has expressed sorrow for what he did. Mr. Pollard cooperated fully with the investigation into his activities and he waived his right to a jury trial. He has served more than enough time for the crime of passing information to an ally. The life sentence which Jonathan Pollard is now serving is not a reflection of the severity of the crimes he committed, but rather the result of ineffective counsel..."