P:A.:7 3 M•

editorials designed to rein-
force their contention that
Mr. Pollard remains a na-
tional security threat.
The latest installment
came two weeks ago, when
a Pentagon official opposed
to clemency leaked a letter
from retiring Secretary of
Defense Les Aspin charging
that Mr. Pollard has contin-
ued to disseminate secrets
from his jail cell.
Those charges could not
be substantiated, since the
evidence cited was secret.
Still, the letter produced a
new flurry of damaging sto-
ries as the pro-commutation
movement seemed to near
its goal.
The pro-Pollard move-
ment was surprised and dis-
oriented by the Aspin letter,
an indication that they may
have underestimated the
anger toward Mr. Pollard
among important elements
in the federal establishment.
"We were lulled into
thinking that the govern- -1 - ti
ment had mostly forgotten
about Jonathan," said one
Pollard activist who did not
want to be identified. 'We were naive, maybe, in thinking that
the logic of our pleas on his behalf would be sufficient, when
there was this great anger still lurking in some very high
places."
The clamorous campaign by pro-Pollard forces succeeded in
attracting a broad spectrum of Jews to the cause. But it also
angered some by suggesting that Mr. Pollard's actions were in
part justified. A constant undertone has been the depiction
of Mr. Pollard as a modern Jewish/Zionist hero who provided
Israel with documents important to its defense against Syri-
an and Iraqi chemical weapons.
Mr. Pollard's backers dispute the notion that their noisy pub-
lic campaign may have been a red flag to commutation oppo-
nents.
"Quiet movements are ignored," said lawyer Alan M. Der-
showitz, who has served as a legal adviser to the Pollard fam-
ily. "I think it had no choice but to do it publicly."
But other observers suggest that a lighter touch may have
been called for.
"If this was a rational campaign, some of these things
wouldn't have happened," said a Pollard supporter who also
asked to go unnamed. "The more noise you make, the less of a
chance you have for a deal."
The Pollard movement also may have seriously miscalcu-
lated by emphasizing the belief that anti-Semitism was the
primary reason for his harsh sentence and subsequent treat-
ment in prison, which included a 10-month stay at an institu-
tion for the criminally insane and his long stretch in solitary
confinement.
Administration sources agree that the recent flurry of leaks
reflected a desire by some in the government to make sure Mr.
Pollard spends the rest of his life in jail. But that harshness,
they insist, reflects the rigid code of the intelligence commu-
nity, not anti-Semitism.
That view was supported by an ADL investigation that
turned up no evidence of anti-Semitism in Mr. Pollard's trial
and sentencing.
Justice may have been overlooked, ADL concluded — but
not because of anti-Jewish bias.
Rabbi Avi Weiss, Mr. Pollard's rabbi and an outspoken ad-
vocate of his early release, insisted that the question of anti-
Semitism is not paramount.
"But I stand with those who believe [former Defense Sec-
retary Caspar] Weinberger had everything to do with this life
sentence — and that this was the result of anti-Jewish, anti-

Israel feeling," Rabbi Weiss
said.
That kind of directness
troubles other leaders in
the Pollard movement.
"There's a visceral con-
cern on the part of most
American Jews that some-
thing went wrong in the
sentencing," said Seymour
Reich, president of the
American Zionist Move-
ment and another longtime
Pollard backer. "Many be-
lieve there was an anti-Se-
mitic quotient in this, but
nobody can prove it. There-
fore, it's wrong to utilize
that argument in the pub-
lic debate and it's counter-
productive."
The Aspin letter may
have proved Mr. Reich's
last point, said Phil Baum,
associate executive direc-
tor of the American Jewish
Congress and chairman of
the National Jewish Com-
munity Relations Advisory
Council's ad-hoc committee
on the Pollard case. Mr.
Baum's early opposition to
the Pollard movement
made him a prime target of

Rabbi Avi Weiss,
one of the more vocal
Pollard supporters,
at one of many raffles
organized on behalf
of the jailed spy.

angry Pollard backers.
"[The anti-Semitism] argument lost force because of As-
pin, because he has been such a strong friend of Israel," said
Mr. Baum. "That is the kind of thing that helps them lose cred-
ibility. I think that is a great tragedy for Pollard, and also a
great tragedy for the Jewish community."

The "Beyond Pollard
Movement"

T

he tensions between Jewish leaders who said anti-Semi-
tism was not a factor, and Pollard activists who said it
was the only explanation for the way Mr. Pollard has
been treated, underscored that this is a movement that has
stirred deep and powerful emotions — only some of which re-
late directly to Mr. Pollard.
Mr. Pollard's plight also unexpectedly became a kind of light-
ning rod for long-simmering resentments toward an American
Jewish establishment that, in the view of some, inadequate-
ly reflects the interests and concerns of the grass-roots com-
munity.
"A lot of people got caught up in what I call the "beyond
Jonathan Pollard movement,' " said Arthur Abramson, exec-
utive director of the Baltimore Jewish Council. "Pollard was
the most immediate cause, but they had other overall aims."
Mr. Abramson insisted that a majority of pro-Pollard ac-
tivists are motivated primarily by humanitarian concerns. But
he added that some were more interested in "trashing Jew-
ish organizations."
David Gad-Harf, executive director of the Jewish Commu-
nity Council in Detroit , said the situation is different in this
city.
"I haven't seen that ("trashing Jewish organizations") here
in Detroit," Mr. Gad-Harf said. "There is a small cadre in De-
troit for which the Pollard issue has always been foremost.
In the last two years a broader constituency has been gained.
"It (the Pollard question) is a more grass-roots issue. It didn't
emanate from national organizations and trickle down. In fact,
the opposite is true. And now, several mainstream organiza-
tions have gone on the record supporting Pollard's commuta-
tion."
Mr. Dershowitz admitted an anti-establishment theme with-
in the Pollard camp. However, rather than seeing it as a neg-

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