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Jailhouse Encounter
Jonathan Pollard talks about his conviction for spying for Israel,
living in prison and aspirations for the future.
Charley J. Levine
Special to Jewish
Renaissance Media
Butnen N.C.
A
. merica's best-known
Jewish prisoner has
passed the 20-year
mark of his life term for giving
classified information to Israel.
Fervently supported by some,
vilified by others, Jonathan Jay
Pollard, the 50-year-old former
U.S. Navy intelligence officer,
is largely ignored by most
American Jews. Though his
sentence recommends against
parole, he prays for his release. In
this exclusive interview, he talks
about his case and refers to the
federal prison in Butner, N.C., as
his "gated community."
Q. In 1986, you pled guilty
to one count of passing clas-
sified information to Israel
and expressed remorse. Who
is responsible for your serv-
ing more time for this kind
of offense than any other
American in history?
A. Unfortunately, I have to say
the State of Israel. The political
leadership. The Mossad. Not the
regular people. And the leader-
ship of American Jewry and
those U.S. government officials
who exploit this case to call
into question both the loyalty of
America's Jews and the value of
Israel's strategic alliance with the
U.S. To this long list, I must add
a number of congressmen and
senators who do, in fact, under-
stand the miscarriage of justice
that has taken place in my case
yet have chosen to remain silent.
Q. You believe more is at stake
than just your imprisonment?
A. The essence of my case
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March 16 - 2006
goes to the promise made by
George Washington centuries
ago, [to] the historic Touro
Synagogue, that America's Jewish
citizens will always be treated
equally in this new society. My
constitutional rights have been
grossly violated for political
reasons, but principally because
I am a Jew. My main accuser
was then-Defense Secretary
Caspar Weinberger, who has
subsequently admitted that my
case was a very minor mat-
ter' that was blown out of all
proportion to serve other ends.
President Clinton's
Mideast negotiator,
Dennis Ross, has
also acknowledged .
.. that my sentence
was too harsh and
that I deserve to be
freed unconditionally.
Despite these critical
admissions by key
officials, here I am,
still sitting in prison.
In my case, the legal
process has sadly
been totally corrupt-
ed. This is not just
me claiming this; it is
Weinberger and Ross
— two people who
definitely know the
inside story — saying
it for all to hear. They
have nothing to gain
from their candor, yet
they couldn't be any
clearer.
Security Agency send an agent
— who is sitting here with us
— to monitor this interview?
A. You'd have to ask him. [The
One must ask who would want
to challenge the special relation-
ship. The answer could range
from traditional anti-Semites
who disdain both American Jews
and Israel, to other interests that
are players in American foreign
policy, be they Arab regimes or
oil interests.
Q: People convicted of crimes
similar to yours typically get
much shorter sentences, and
even the prosecutor in your
case did not recommend the
maximum. Why do you believe
you received a life
sentence?
A. That question was
actually answered in
1998, in an article by
J.J. Goldberg, now the
editor of the Forward.
He quoted high-level
sources in Washington
who indicated that it
was the Joint Chiefs of
Staff who engineered
my sentence, work-
ing through Caspar
Weinberger to com-
municate with the sen-
tencing judge. These
sources stated clearly
that my sentence had
nothing to do with my
guilt or innocence, but
was intended solely
to send a message to
American Jews.
"I want to be a productive
Israeli. I would love to
pursue projects involving
effective utilization of water
and energy, and I study these
issues in depth in prison to
prepare for that day."
Q. Is any of the intelligence
that passed through your
hands relevant today?
A. Absolutely not. The very
definition of intelligence must
indicate that there is no longer
one shred of relevance today.
Q. Why did the National
— Jonathan Pollard
U.S. intelligence community]
made a conscious decision to
use me as a weapon against the
Jewish community and especially
against AIPAC. These people
oppose the special relationship
that historically bound America
and Israel together. My treat-
ment was a means to an end, a
way to end the role of Israel as
a natural ally to the U.S. Why?
Q. Can you describe your typi-
cal day?
A. I wake up at 5 a.m. I daven.
I go to breakfast and come back
to work as an orderly in my unit
... washing windows, waxing
floors, cleaning toilets. I squeeze
in radio time, mainly the BBC
and NPR. I [also] read vora-
ciously: the New York Times, Wall
Street Journal, Jerusalem Post,
the Economist, Washington Post,
MIT Technology Review and a
full range of Jewish publications.
I read books. Now I'm reading a
biography of Orde Wingate, the
Christian Zionist supporter of
the Yishuv before the state was
created. I write every single day
— in longhand, since we have
no computer, much less Internet
access, about projects I want to
do, things I would like to build in
the future. I call my wife, Esther,
at least once a day, but only for
a few minutes since I'm limited
to 300 minutes maximum each
month. I have lunch and keep
reading and writing once work
finishes at 3:30 p.m.
Q. What do you eat?
A. Real kosher food is virtu-
ally nonexistent. I am able to buy
some limited items such as rice
crackers and canned tuna from
the commissary out of my own
pocket. If and when it is avail-
able on the prison menu, I try to
eat tofu and soy products — no
matter how badly they massacre
it in the preparation. Other than
that, I [end up] eating lots of rice
and beans. I am grateful to Rabbi
Pesach Lerner of the National
Council of Young Israel who, in
spite of endless obstacles, tries
valiantly to help me maintain my
religious needs, ranging from
financial assistance for buying
kosher food to holiday and spiri-
tual needs.
Q. Is there any sense of Jewish
community in this facility?
A. No. Regrettably all kinds
of weird people here say they
are Jews for reasons that are
spurious and self-serving. To
the best of my knowledge, there
are only two or three actual
Jews in this prison. I try to keep
to myself. I have learned that I