world
Murderous Acts By
Jewish Extremists
Times of Israel
After 30 Years In Prison,
Pollard Slated To Be Free
Jerusalem Post
I
sraeli agent Jonathan Pollard will
be released from prison after
serving 30 years of a 45-year "life
sentence" on Nov. 20, the U.S. Parole
Commission announced July 28.
The Parole Commission relayed the
decision to Pollard's lawyers, Elliot
Lauer and Jacques Semmelman.
"I am looking forward to being
reunited with my beloved wife,
Esther; Pollard said through his
attorneys. "I would like to thank the
many thousands of well-wishers in the
United States, in Israel and through-
out the world, who provided grass-
roots support by attending rallies,
sending letters, making phone calls to
elected officials and saying prayers for
my welfare. I am deeply appreciative
of every gesture, large or small:'
Pollard's lawyers said, "The deci-
sion to grant parole was made unani-
mously by the three members of the
Parole Commission, who make their
decisions independently of any other
U.S. government agency. The decision
is not connected to recent develop-
ments in the Middle Ease The parole
hearing date was set long ago and was
not connected with the Iran pact now
before Congress.
Had Pollard's parole been denied,
he would have been required to serve
an additional 15 years in prison. His
parole hearing took place July 7 at the
Federal Correctional Center in Butner,
N.C., where he has been incarcerated.
He has been serving a sentence of life
in prison for conspiracy to deliver clas-
sified information to the State of Israel.
The commission assessed Pollard's
record in prison and whether there
was a "reasonable probability" that he
would commit any further crimes if
released. The lawyers submitted docu-
ments demonstrating that Pollard had
an exemplary prison record and that
there was no possibility that he would
commit any further crimes if released.
The lawyers also secured employ-
ment and housing for Pollard in the
New York area. Unless he receives
presidential clemency, Pollard must
remain in the U.S. for five years
and not go to Israel. On July 1, the
Department of Justice informed the
lawyers that it agreed not to urge
denial of parole at the hearing six days
later.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu spoke with Esther Pollard
just hours after the news was
announced.
"After decades of efforts,
finally, finally Jonathan Pollard
will be freed from jail; said
Netanyahu.
He added that throughout
Pollard's "long period of incar-
ceration I made sure to raise the
subject of his release in all my
meetings and conversations with
the heads of the American gov-
ernment:"
p
Jonathan Pollard
Why So Long?
In 2002, journalist Edwin Black did
an extensive investigation of the
Pollard case, interviewing Pollard,
former Secretary of Defense Caspar
Weinberger, defense and prosecuting
attorneys, and governmental officials.
Black sought to discover why
Pollard had been imprisoned for 17
years at the time, longer than anyone
else convicted of spying for a friendly
nation. Black concluded several fac-
tors were involved including:
• Pollard had turned over to Israel
secret intelligence codes that cost the
U.S. billions of dollars and many years
to restructure, exemplifying the seri-
ousness of the damage he caused.
• While awaiting sentencing, Pollard
and his then-wife Anne, also a defen-
dant, sought to put pressure on the
sentencing judge by giving interviews
to the press, angering the prosecu-
tors and the judge. The judge, who
requested a last-minute assessment of
the damage caused by Pollard's spying,
issued a sentence far in excess of what
Pollard had agreed to with prosecutors
in his agreement to plead guilty.
• Pollard's trial attorney, Richard
Hibey, made several lapses, including
failure to file a notice of appeal of the
sentence within 10 days as required.
This failure permanently ruled out
direct appeals of his sentence.
Black's comprehensive investiga-
tion has been republished and can be
accessed on the IN website,
wwwthejewishnews.com . The author's
website is www.edwinblack.com .
Family Ties
In June 1987, three months after
Pollard received his life sentence, then-
Detroit Jewish News reporter David
Holzel was the first reporter to inter-
view his parents, Dr. Morris and Molly
Pollard, of South Bend, Ind., where
Morris was a professor of microbiology
at Notre Dame University.
According to the story, which can be
accessed on the Detroit Jewish News
Foundation's William Davidson Digital
Archive of Jewish Detroit History,
Pollard was influenced by anti-Semi-
tism he faced as a child in school and
visits with his family to Bergen-Belsen
and Dachau death camps in Germany.
In elementary school Pollard was
"harassed continuously" because he
was Jewish, and his parents transferred
him to a private school.
As a teen, Pollard visited Israel and
was reluctant to come home. His par-
ents told him to complete his educa-
tion and then go back to Israel.
The JN story said Pollard passed
information to the Israelis that helped
facilitate the bombing of PLO head-
quarters in Tunisia. Pollard also pro-
vided materials on the movements of
U.S., Soviet and French ships in the
Mediterranean, enabling the Israel Air
Force to fly undetected. He relayed
information on Pakistan's atom bomb
program, Syrian and Iraqi chemical
warfare plants, and Soviet arms ship-
ments to Syria and other Arab states.
Why did Pollard pass secret infor-
mation to Israel? "He did it as an
American Jew who felt a very strong
spiritual identification with Israel:'
said his father.
In the 1987 interview, Pollard's
parents blamed Israel's top leader-
ship, whom they say, callously aban-
doned their son when he got caught.
(Pollard had sought asylum at the
Israeli embassy, but was refused.) "The
[Israeli] government lacked guts," said
Morris Pollard, who died in June 2011.
Molly Pollard died in December 2001.
The Pollards also expressed anger
with Secretary of Defense Caspar
Weinberger, who they said had out-of-
control antagonism against Israel.
Regarding their son's life sentence,
Morris Pollard said, "He's a prisoner
of Zion. A political prisoner:'
❑
rime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on
Friday condemned the arson attack on a
Palestinian family — in which an infant
was burned to death — as a "horrific, heinous"
crime that is "a terror attack in every respect:'
Two homes in the Palestinian village of Duma,
south of Nablus, were set alight, and the Hebrew
words "Revenge" and "Long live the king messiah"
were spray-painted on their walls, alongside a
Star of David, overnight July 30-31, apparently by
Jewish extremists.
The child killed in the attack, Ali Saad
Dawabsha, was 18 months old. The infant's par-
ents, as well as his 4-year-old brother, were all
injured and evacuated to the hospital. The mother
and toddler were in critical condition.
"I am shocked by this horrific, heinous act," said
Netanyahu in a statement. "This is a terror attack
in every respect. The State of Israel deals forcefully
with terror, regardless of who the perpetrators are:'
Jewish Community Relations Council of
Metropolitan Detroit president Dr. Richard Krugel
said, "We condemn this heinous act of senseless
violence and declare that it does not represent fun-
damental Jewish values and those of Israel and its
people, who the Detroit JCRC strongly advocates
for on behalf of the greater community:'
Murder At Gay Pride Rally
Shira Banki, 16, who was stabbed during
Jerusalem's Gay Pride Parade on July 30, died
Sunday after succumbing to her wounds.
Five other people were stabbed as well.
One other person, Yarden Noy, was injured criti-
cally in the stabbing but has since recovered and
is set to be released from the hospital in the com-
ing days. The other four people stabbed by Yishai
Schlissel were lightly to moderately injured. Banki's
family said they would donate her organs.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat expressed deep sor-
row over Banki's murder, and vowed to protect the
rights and security of all the capital's residents.
"The murder at the Gay Pride Parade on the
streets of Jerusalem is a criminal act, and we will
not allow it to achieve its aim," Barkat said.
Schlissel carried out the attack three weeks after
he was released from prison after serving a 10-year
sentence for perpetrating an identical crime a
decade ago. Schlissel, an ultra-Orthodox Jew, was
found fit to stand trial on Friday, although he
refused legal counsel, saying he did not recognize
the legal standing of the court since it did not abide
by Jewish law. He was unrepentant after an attack
in 2005 in which he stabbed and wounded three
people and said he was on a mission from God.
Police were criticized for allowing him to
approach the parade once released from prison.
Following the stabbing attack and Friday's
deadly firebombing on the home of a Palestinian
family in Duma, a number of groups held rallies
in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Beersheba on Saturday
night condemning violence and incitement. Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a pre-recorded
clip that aired at the Tel Aviv protest in which he
mainly addressed the Jerusalem stabbings.
"We reject this hatred outright," Netanyahu said.
"We will do whatever is necessary to draw the les-
sons from this [incident]. But the most important
lesson is accepting the other even when they are
not like you," he said.
❑
JN
August 6 • 2015
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