Every Govt Since 1996 Tried to Free Pollard But US wouldn't

HBendor — Sat Sep 05, 2009 9:37 pm

Author: HBendor

Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 9:37 pm

Justice4JPnews Commentary - September 4, 2009

RE: Jerusalem Post: "State Comptroller: Every Govt Since 1996 Tried to Free Pollard But US wouldn't yield"[Print Edition , 09/04/2009 Copy follows text below]

In a stunning show of self contradiction, Israel State Comptroller, Micha
Lindenstrauss confidently asserts that every possible effort has been made
by successive governments of Israel to bring Jonathan Pollard home. --
even
though, says Lindenstrauss there are no records that any efforts were ever
made.
Huh?! Say that again!

We repeat: Despite the lack of any kind of record upon which to base his

conclusions, the State Comptroller gives every government of Israel high
marks for making efforts to free Pollard, while criticising their failure
to
keep any record whatsoever of their efforts!
Are you still scratching your head?

You heard correctly. Lindenstrauss confirms that there are no government

records of any efforts to free Pollard. Nevertheless, even without
records,
Lindenstrauss has decided that every government of Israel since 1996 has
done everything it could to free Pollard!
There is more. Lindenstrauss claims that it was only the fierce opposition

of the Americans that derailed these efforts.
Excuse us, but if there is no record of any of the alleged communications

between Israeli and American officials on the Pollard case, then how does
Lindenstrauss know that any such communications indeed occurred? And how
does he know that these communications were met with "fierce opposition"?
J4JP takes issue with Lindenstrauss' "inventive thinking" and "creative

writing". As we see it, if Jonathan Pollard is still sitting in prison
after 24 years of the best "consistent and continuous efforts" on the part
of the government of Israel (as Lindenstrauss claims) either the
government
of Israel is so incompetent that it strains credulity, or more likely,
there
were no efforts.
The only way to fail to bring an agent home (one who is in the hands of
your

best ally) after 24 years of trying, is if failure was the intention all
along.
The blatant attempt by Lindestrauss and his fellow travellers ( such as MK

Otniel Schneller ) to shift all responsiblity for Jonathan Pollard away
from
Israel, is corrupt.
In light of Pollard's failing health -- after 24 years in prison for his

activities on behalf of the State of Israel -- the State Comptroller's
ficticious report is not only factually debased, it is morally
reprehensible.

Judge for yourself. Here is the Jerusalem Post Article cited above:

STATE COMPTROLLER: Every Govt Since 1996 Tried to Free Pollard But US
wouldn't yield

By Dan Izenberg - Jerusalem Post Print Edition - September 4, 2009
Despite criticism that consecutive governments have not done enough to free

Jonathan Pollard, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss found after an
extensive study that they had.
Lindenstrauss added that Israel should press Washington to agree to a new

trial for Pollard, on the grounds he did not receive due process in his
first trial.
Since 1996, the governments of Binyamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon

and Ehud Olmert acted "continuously and consistently" to obtain the release
of Pollard, who spied for Israel, but the efforts failed because of the
"fierce and consistent" opposition of US administration officials,
Lindenstrauss said on Thursday.
Acting on a request made by the Knesset State Control Committee on December
31, 2007, the comptroller prepared a report on the actions of governments in
past years to get Pollard out of jail, where he has been held for almost 24
years.
After completing the report, the state-comptroller decided to publish only

three of its 30 pages because of national security considerations.
Pollard was arrested on November 21, 1985, and convicted of spying for

Israel. His handlers worked for the Office for Scientific Relations, which
was a front for a spy organization operated by the ministry of defense. He
was granted Israeli citizenship in 1995 and recognized by the government as
an Israeli agent in 1998.
Activists on behalf of Pollard have accused the successive governments of
not trying hard enough to secure his release.
But Lindenstrauss clearly disagrees. "The investigation showed that

Pollard's release from prison in America was always a consideration of the
Israeli government leaders, and their actions and the policies they followed
were continuous and consistent during their terms of office," the state
comptroller wrote. "The subject was raised in their meetings and discussions
with the presidents of the US."
However, the talking did not help because "there is a very fierce opposition

on the part of administration officials to release Pollard.
"The fiercest opposition is in US intelligence, where they say that his

release contradicts US security interests."
Lindenstrauss was critical of the fact that the conversations between the

Israeli and US leaders were not recorded by Israel. Had they been, the
government could have followed the track of US thinking over time and
developed a policy based on the experience of preceding years.
Lindenstrauss added that the Pollard question should be discussed in a

meeting between the foreign, defense and justice ministers, in their
capacity as members of the security cabinet, to consider the legal aspects
of the case.
Pollard's lawyer in Israel, attorney Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, strongly

condemned Lindenstrauss' findings.
"The report is another whitewash of the failures of Israeli governments down

through the years to free Pollard, this time from another branch of
government. No government, at any time, made any effort to release him,"
Darshan-Leitner said.
She said that there was no point to Lindenstrauss's recommendation to ask

for another trial, because such a request had already been made in the US
and been rejected. The government, she continued, continued to "pretend"
that Pollard carried out the orders of Rafi Eitan, the head of the Office
for Scientific Relations, who had exceeded his authority, rather than of the
senior echelons of the government. "As a result, the state has left him to
cope alone with the results of its failures," she said.
MK Otniel Schneller (Kadima), the chairman of the subcommittee for oversight

of the defense establishment, told The Jerusalem Post that "the state
comptroller's report was not a simple report - either in terms of the
domestic issues or the international ones."
While emphasizing that only a very small portion of a very detailed report

was released to the public, Schneller said that some of the most important
conclusions that he drew from the document could - and should - be publicly
revealed.
Schneller rejected Lindenstrauss's compliments of work carried out by the

government toward Pollard's release.
"In the test of the result, the work surrounding Pollard did not succeed.

More than 20 years and he is still in jail. Despite the compliments extended
by Lindenstrauss, the fact that Pollard is still in jail is a failure,"
Schneller said.
The Kadima MK emphasized that the strategy of seeking a pardon from the

American establishment had repeatedly met with stiff opposition from members
of the US intelligence community, and that instead, other directions for
securing Pollard's release should be pursued.
Schneller said that he hoped that American human rights organizations would

work for Pollard's release, arguing that he had not received due process,
and that he was extremely ill after serving more than two decades years in
prison.
Schneller also said that the burden of securing Pollard's release should not

be placed on the US Jewish community, so as not "to place American Jews in
the dilemma in which they must choose whether they are seen as loyal to
America or whether they should act for his release. I hope that it is
actually the rights organizations - not the Jewish ones - that appreciate
that this is a prisoner who has been in prison for 24 years, who is very
sick, and who did not receive due process as outlined in American law."
Rebecca Anna Stoil contributed to this report.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com

/servlet/Satellite?cid=1251804479864&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull
SEE ALSO:

Pollards' Preliminary Response to the Lindenstrauss Report - Statement of

Esther Pollard: J4JPnews Update
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2009/090309a.htm
Lawyer lambasts Pollard report: The Jerusalem Post

http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2009/090309b.htm
Israel ombudsman: U.S. deprived Jonathan Pollard of due process: Haaretz

http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2009/090309c.htm

-- --
JUSTICE FOR JONATHAN POLLARD
Website: http://www.JonathanPollard.org
RSS: http://www.JonathanPollard.org/rss.htm

--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il

MEPE

Every Govt Since 1996 Tried to Free Pollard But US wouldn't