UP FRONT
$150,000 Israeli Donation
For Pollard Defense Fund
DAVID HOLZEL
Staff Writer
Dr. Morris Pollard is waiting for
a $150,000 check from Israel. "I'm
quite relieved," he said. "It will more
or less erase the indebtedness, if and
when it arrives."
Dr. Pollard's "indebtedness"
stems from the $200,000 in legal bills
incurred by his son, Jonathan Jay
Pollard — a former civilian analyst for
the U.S. Navy sentenced to life in
prison for selling secrets to Israel —
and Jonathan's wife, Anne
Henderson-Pollard — sentenced to a
five year term for her role in the
operation.
Jonathan remains in "strict isola-
tion" in a federal prison in
Springfield, Missouri, according to his
father.
Dr. Pollard, speaking by telephone
from his office at Notre Dame Univer-
sity, told The Jewish News that he
was contacted "three or four months
ago" by the Israeli embassy, which
asked him to set up a bank account
to receive funds from well-wishers
wanting to contribute to the Pollards'
defense.
Ever since the Jonathan and
Anne Pollard Defense Fund was set
up at the First Source Bank in South
Bend, Indiana, money has been trickl-
ing in, Dr. Pollard said. "We've receiv-
ed checks of $25 and $50 from people
in the U.S."
But it is the Israelis who have
rallied around the Pollards like a flag
in recent weeks. An "unidentified per-
son in Jerusalem" recently phoned
Dr. Pollard to tell him of the immi-
nent arrival of $150,000 raised by
Israelis which, Dr. Pollard hastened
to add, will be used only to pay legal
fees.
Another sum of money was sent
directly to the Pollards' attorneys, he
said. Was its source the Israel govern-
ment? "You can use your imagination
where it came from," Dr. Pollard
answered. "I have no proof."
He said that the family spent
$40,000 of its own funds on
Jonathan's defense. "The last bill was
$50,000 or $55,000."
How does Dr. Pollard explain the
muted support and harsh criticism
his son has received from American
Jews, in contrast to the grass-roots
support generated by the Israeli peo-
ple? "We're still insecure," he
answered thoughtfully. "We're scared
stiff and embarrassed." He contend-
ed that "strong indignation" to the
punishment meted out to his son and
daughter-in-law does exist in the U.S.,
"and not all from Jews."
He admitted that "at first, I was
indignant that my son did this (sold
secrets to Israel)." He said he "relax-
ed" when he learned that; although
his son was indicted for spying for
Israel, a second count of working
against the best interests of the U.S.
"was dropped for lack of evidence?'
Dr. Pollard, a microbiologist at
Notre Dame, described his son's
transfer of information as "a
meticulous operation. He omitted
anything that could be construed as
vital to the U.S."
He asserted that the funds
Jonathan received from his Israeli
handlers were "payments for ex-
penses he incurred" during the opera-
tion, implying that Jonathan was not
out to get rich from the selling of
secrets.
Is Jonathan Jay Pollard a
"renegade" American Zionist, a Jew
divorced from the American Jewish
reality? His father says no. "Our son
looks at Israel as a haven for Jews
who have no place to go. I'm sure most
American Jews feel the same way!'
Orthodox Jews visiting the settlement of Emmanuel in Samaria. Will a shift in power
in the WZO affect future settlements?
Power At Stake In Zionist Election
bAVID HURL
Staff Writer
Is anything really at stake at the
upcoming 31st Zionist Congress, set
to convene in Jerusalem in
December? Organizers and would-be
delegates answer with an une-
quivocal "yes!'
"(The Congress) puts everybody
on their feet. They get interested and
they go to work!" said Steven Goldin
of the local branch of Herut Zionists
of America.
The Congress, which meets every
four or five years, is the fulcrum in the
Israel-Diaspora political relationship.
The World Zionist Organization
wields power through the purse. The
Zionist Congress will influence how
the WZO's $500 million annual
budget will be apportioned, thus in-
fluencing Israel's settlements policy,
religious pluralism and a host of other
issues. The Congress will elect the
people who will run the WZO on a
daily basis.
Moreover, the Congress is one of
the few democratically elected forums
in the Jewish world. American
members of 16 Zionist organizations
will receive their ballots for elections
to the Congress next month. And
while many Zionist groups profess no
political ideology other than support
of Israel, in reality the WZO and the
Congress play out the' partisan
poltical drama in Israel between the
two largest political blocs — Labor
and Likud — and between the Jewish
state's Orthodox and non-Orthodox
communities.
The Labor Zionist Alliance and
Herut Zionists of America are the
American sisters of the two large
Israeli parties, now in uneasy alliance
in the shaky National Unity Govern-
ment. LZA and. Herut are only
medium-sized groups on the
American scene with seven and 13
delegates respectively at the last Con-
gress. (By contrast, independent
Hadassah, the largest organization,
had 51 delegates, and the Likud-
associated Zionist Organization of
America had 22 delegates.)
These numbers do not tell the
whole story. Worldwide, the Likud
boasted 177 out of 536 delegates to
Continued on Page 18
ROUND UP
Vandals Hit
Yeshivah Again
Vandals on April 13 — Erev
— broke interior win-
> — Passover
dows and lavatory sinks and
) toilets at the Yeshivath Beth
Yehudah in Southfield, causing
$10,000 in damage. Last year
on Erev Passover, vandals did
$60,000 worth of damage to the
building and office equipment.
Southfield police said this
week that they have no leads or
suspects in the case. There were
no signs of forced entry into the
building. The incident occurred
sometime between noon and 5
p.m.
The yeshivah's Rabbi E.B.
/7
Freedman said the building's
alarm systems were not
operating at the time because
maintenance workers were ex-
pected to be entering and leav-
ing the building during the day.
- There were no classes in session
because of the Passover holiday.
After last year's incident, the
yeshivah installed an alarm
system, installed heavier locks
and window gratings in its of-
fices and hired persons to watch
the building.
Israel Visit
For Soviets
PARIS (JTA) — A visit to
Israel by a Soviet consular level
delegation will take place as
planned, according to a report
from Moscow Tuesday, though
the date was not announced.
The delegation "has not yet
bought its plane tickets but the
visit has not ben canceled,"
Gennady Gerasimov, chief of
the Soviet Foreign Ministry's
Information Directorate, told a
press conference.
Gerasimov described the
group as a "modest delegation"
whose mission was to help
Soviet citizens in Israel with
consular problems and discuss
matters related to Soviet pro-
perty in Israel, including the
holdings of the Russian Or-
thodox Church in Jerusalem.
Israel welcomes the visit but
maintains that a similar Israeli
delegation should go to Moscow.
Gerasimov said earlier there
would be no exchange visits
between the two countries.
Ford's Petersen
Receives Award
Donald E. Petersen, chair-
man and chief executive officer
of Ford Motor Co., received the
National Numanitarian Award
from the National Jewish
Center for Immunology and
Respiratory Medicine
yesterday.
About 750 people attended
the benefit dinner at the
Renaissance Center, which
featured jazz artist Dave
Brubeck and raised over
$150,000 for the Denver-based
medical center, according to
dinner co-chairman Stanley
Winkelman.
Phones Tapped
Tel Aviv (JTA) — Former
Chief of Staff and present
Tehiya Party Knesset
Member Rafael Eitan has
confirmed that the phones of
top IDF officers were tapped
while he served as the IDF
chief.
5