Editorial

Don't Link Pollard To Failed Peace Talks

A

reported deal that would
have resulted in the U.S.
freeing convicted Israeli spy
Jonathan Pollard from federal prison
after 28 years in exchange for Israel
releasing another round of Palestinian
prisoners appears dead, fortunately.
Such a deal
would be a trav-
esty of justice.
U.S. intelligence
agencies have
kept up a drum-
.--
beat of opposition
to
freeing Pollard,
..i
.._,, i
______,,,i 59, a former civil-
ian intelligence
Jonathan Pollard
analyst for the
U.S. Navy convicted of spying for
Israel in 1985 and sentenced two
years later to life in prison – a pen-
alty that time has proven excessive.
In poor health, Pollard is eligible for
parole in November 2015.
Under a deal reportedly discussed
by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, Israel would release hun-
dreds of Palestinian prisoners and
freeze West Bank settlement building

(yet again) while America would free
Pollard, as if he were a pawn to sal-
vage Israeli-Palestinian talks, officially
set to end April 29 without a consen-
sus to reconvene.
The deal calls for the Palestinian
Authority agreeing to continue nego-
tiations, feeble as they are, through
2015 and refraining from seeking rec-
ognition for statehood through inter-
national alliances, such as the U.N.
Israel would agree to release the 26
Palestinian prisoners it was supposed
to free on March 29 and at least 400
more captives as well as honor an
unofficial freeze on West Bank settle-
ment construction.

Change Course

There's no point in Israel feigning
talks without a legitimate partner –
one who embraces a willingness to
recognize Israel's right to exist as a
sovereign Jewish state and give up
its untenable demand for a full claim
of return of Palestinian refugees and
their descendants.
In an April 1 statement, the Anti-
Defamation League put it well: "While
the time has come for clemency,

Pollard's release should not be inter-
twined with any potential resolution of
the Arab-Israeli conflict."
Intertwining indeed makes no sense.
The critical permanent-status
issues that must be resolved first to
settle the conflict are distinct from,
and unrelated to, the Pollard question.

A Better Option

What would be fitting is for President
Barack Obama to consider clemency
for Pollard on humanitarian grounds
and in deference to what the White
House has called the "unshakable
friendship" between Israel and the
U.S. – extraordinary democratic allies.
The banished deal did serve to set the
stage for a presidential commutation.
Obama could opt, unlike George W.
Bush and Bill Clinton, to free Pollard
in light of what a 2010 U.S. House let-
ter signed by 39 Democratic represen-
tatives called "a great disparity from
the standpoint of justice between the
amount of time Mr. Pollard has served
and the time that has been served –
or not served at all – by many others
who were found guilty of similar activ-
ity on behalf of nations adversarial to

us, unlike Israel."
Pollard committed a felony and
took a payoff. He was found guilty
and expressed remorse. He has paid a
fair price of justice. The median sen-
tence for such a crime is 2-4 years in
prison; the maximum punishment is
now 10 years.
Jewish support for freeing Pollard
as well as support among U.S. con-
gressional leaders on both sides of
the aisle is mounting.
The president shouldn't act because
it might prolong Israel's talks with
Palestinian Authority leaders who have
shown no vested regard for a lasting
peace. Neither has the P.A. signaled a
desire to reveal its true intention amid
the glare of international scrutiny.
That intention: to undermine Israel by
breaking its spirit along a calculated
trajectory ultimately leading to absorp-
tion of the ancestral Jewish homeland
into a new Palestinian state.
Jonathan Pollard's release is war-
ranted, but as an independent gesture
of mercy. Injecting him into the nego-
tiating equation would further muddle
a long-roiling political, cultural and
religious conflict. ❑

Commentary

How Israel Can Help Cover Our Day School Tuition

Jerusalem/JTA

E

very decade or so, yet another
demographic survey reveals the
obvious: The American-Jewish
community is in flux, with affiliation fall-
ing. Each time, the community circles
back to what we know works: high-quality
Jewish education along with Jewish camps
and Israel programs. Taken together, these
are effective identity builders, especially if
repeated over many years.
I am a product of the Solomon
Schechter Day School system, and my
children attended the independent Jewish
Community Day School when we lived in
Newton, Mass. My Jewish education, bol-
stered by Young Judaea and other camps
and Israel programs, sparked several
decades of serving the Jewish people in the
nonprofit realm. This meant I was doubly
taxed: first, the expensive day school bills,
and second, a lower salary than friends
and family members because I worked for
Jewish nonprofits.
The Jewish community needs new ideas
to ease the financial burden on families. I
was a scholarship kid growing up and am
grateful for the assistance I received from
the community and Hadassah.
We also have seen that new programs
that require seemingly out-of-reach finan-

cial resources can work. Example No. 1:
Taglit-Birthright Israel. Part of Birthright's
success is attributable to the Israeli gov-
ernment's decision to allocate significant
funds to enhance Jewish identity of youth
outside Israel. This serves as positive
testimony of what can be done when we
see Israel as a full partner in preserving
and enhancing Jewish identity
worldwide.

Economic Vigor

ever the recipient visited Israel, whether
on summer programs, junior year abroad,
MASA or some other long-term program.
If the recipient immigrates to Israel by
a certain age and stays for at least three
years, then all or part of the loan would
be forgiven. If the recipient becomes a
full-time Jewish communal professional,
then there should be some loan
forgiveness as well.

Endowed Benefit

Now Israel, and the strength
Another idea to help offset
of its economy, also can play
tuition costs by focusing on
a critical role in making day
Jewish communal endowments.
schools affordable in new
More money is being generated
ways.
now by Jewish foundations and
Israel has an excellent
endowments than by annual fed-
credit rating: A+, according to
eration campaigns — a sign our
Yos of I.
Standard & Poor's. The Bank
community needs to create new
Abram owitz
of Israel could make long-
strategies to finance major initia-
term, low-interest loans avail-
tives in Jewish life.
able to Jewish families, perhaps working
The truth about Jewish endowments is
with an Israeli bank that has a U.S. affili-
that they are managed very conservatively
ate. Or at the very least, it could provide a
by outside professional money managers
loan guarantee for day school parents.
and are not performing as well as they
Here's how Israel's financial role would
could.
work: While a child is enrolled in Jewish
Even a modest 2 percent increase
in annual returns, from the federation
day school, part of the repayments would
endowments of more than $14 billion,
be covered for parents — half by the local
Jewish federation and half by the State of
would produce about $300 million annu-
Israel. Payments would be frozen when-
ally that could be earmarked for Jewish

education — especially if the 2 percent
were generated from safe, Israel-based
investments.
Imagine a federation endowment invest-
ing money in Israeli infrastructure projects
— in, say, their Partnership 2Gether com-
munities in Israel [Jewish Detroit's P2G
partnership is the Central Galilee] — and
using the boost in profits to lower the cost
of Jewish education back home.
The State of Israel is also creating a
sovereign wealth fund to invest wisely the
huge windfalls it expects from its recently
discovered natural gas deposits — an
estimated $125 billion over the next two
decades.
While Israeli education, defense, renew-
ables and society certainly should be the
major recipients of the profits here, asking
Israel to set aside 10 percent of the funds,
or $12.5 billion, to finance affordable
Jewish education around the world cer-
tainly would radically transform lives and
strengthen Israel by strengthening Jewish
peoplehood.

❑

Yosef I. Abramowitz, winner of a Covenant
Award for Excellence in Jewish Education,
lives in Israel and works with two Israeli solar
companies. This viewpoint was made availalble
through PEJE, the Boston-based Partnership
for Excellence in Jewish Education.

April 10 • 2014

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