U.S. could free Israeli spy in deal to save peace talks: source close to talks

[Half-Century Man]

44. I have been addressing this level of hatred for Israel for 30+ years.

No matter which political party happened to be the Majority at the moment.
Not all Jews are fundamentalists.
Not all Israelis are Jewish
Johnath Pollard told Israel about

Soviet arms shipments to Syria, Iraqi and Syrian chemical weapons, the Pakistani atomic bomb project, and Libyan air defense systems

(wiki); The USSR knew about the weapons they already sold.

As far as any zeal to get remaining Jewish persons out of the old USSR; Ask Latinos if they would like to get their families reunited.

The damage done was tiny, at least according to all these people

Pollard's supporters argue that his sentence was excessive. Although Pollard pleaded guilty as part of a plea bargain for himself and his wife, he was shown no leniency and was given the maximum sentence with the exception of death, because he allegedly broke the terms of that plea agreement even before the sentence was handed down.[80]

The issue of his imprisonment has sometimes arisen amidst Israeli domestic politics.[81] Benjamin Netanyahu has been particularly vocal in lobbying for Pollard's release, visiting Pollard in prison in 2002.[6] Netanyahu raised the issue with President Bill Clinton during the Wye River peace talks in 1998.[82] In his autobiography, Clinton wrote that he was inclined to release Pollard, but the objections of U.S. intelligence officials were too strong:

For all the sympathy Pollard generated in Israel, he was a hard case to push in America; he had sold our country's secrets for money, not conviction, and for years had not shown any remorse. When I talked to Sandy Berger and George Tenet, they were adamantly opposed to letting Pollard go, as was Madeleine Albright.[83]

Alan Dershowitz has been among Pollard's high-profile supporters, both in the courtroom as a lawyer and in various print media. Characterizing the sentence as "excessive", Dershowitz writes in an article reprinted in his bestselling book Chutzpah, "As an American, and as a Jew, I hereby express my outrage at Jonathan Pollard's sentence of life imprisonment for the crime to which he pleaded guilty."[84] Dershowitz writes:

[E]veryone seems frightened to speak up on behalf of a convicted spy. This has been especially true of the Jewish leadership in America. The Pollards are Jewish... The Pollards are also Zionists, who—out of a sense of misguided "racial imperative" (to quote Jonathan Pollard)—seem to place their commitment to Israeli survival over the laws of their own country... American Jewish leaders, always sensitive to the canard of dual loyalty, are keeping a low profile in the Pollard matter. Many American Jews at the grass roots are outraged at what they perceive to be an overreaction to the Pollards' crimes and the unusually long sentence imposed on Jonathan Pollard.[84]

In 2012, Malcolm Hoenlein called for Pollards' release, saying "27 years - he's paid the price for his crimes. He has expressed remorse. Enough is enough. It's time that he be let go - there is no justification that we can see for keeping him any longer, there's no cause of justice, no security interest that could possibly be served."[1]

The Jerusalem City Council has also acted in support of Pollard, changing the name of a square near the official prime minister's residence from Paris Square to Freedom for Jonathan Pollard Square.[85] Tamar Fogel, a 12-year-old Israeli girl whose parents and three siblings were killed in the 2011 Itamar attack, visited Pollard shortly after the death of his father in June 2011.[86]

Pollard has at times claimed that he provided only information that, at the time, he believed was vital to Israeli security and that was being withheld by the Pentagon, in violation of a 1983 Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries regarding the sharing of vital security intelligence. According to Pollard, this included data on Soviet arms shipments to Syria, Iraqi and Syrian chemical weapons, the Pakistani atomic bomb project, and Libyan air defense systems.[87] According to the declassified CIA 1987 damage assessment of the Pollard case, under the heading "What the Israelis Did Not Ask For", the assessment notes that, according to Pollard, (page 43) the Israelis "never expressed interest in US military activities, plans, capabilities, or equipment". Many people claim that Israel had the legal rights to the information that Pollard passed to Israel based upon a 1983 Memorandum of understanding between the United States and Israel. [88][13]

In 2010 representatives Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) and Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) wrote a letter that "notes the positive impact that a grant of clemency would have in Israel, as a strong indication of the goodwill of our nation towards Israel and the Israeli people"."[89]

On November 18, 2010, 39 members of Congress submitted a Plea Of Clemency to the White House on behalf of Pollard, asking the president for his immediate release: "We see clemency for Mr. Pollard as an act of compassion justified by the way others have been treated by our justice system." They stated how there has been a great disparity by the amount of time that Pollard has served and by others who were found guilty of similar activities.[90][91][92]

Former White house legal counsel, Bernard Nussbaum, wrote a letter on January 28, 2011, to President Obama stating that he extensively reviewed the Jonathan Pollard file while he served in the White House. In his letter he stated, "that a failure at this time to commute his sentence would not serve the course of justice; indeed, I respectfully believe, it would be a miscarriage of justice".[93][94]

Former Secretary of State George Shultz also wrote a letter to President Obama on January 11, 2011, urging that Jonathan Pollard sentence to be commuted. He stated, "I am impressed that the people who are best informed about the classified material he passed to Israel, former CIA Director James Woolsey and former Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Dennis DeConcini, favor his release."[95][96]

In 2011, Henry Kissinger, former U.S. Secretary of State declared that the time had come to commute the sentence of Jonathan Pollard. On March 3, 2011, Kissinger wrote a letter to President Obama stating, "having talked with George Shultz and read the statements of former CIA Director Woolsey, former Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman DeConcini, former Defense Secretary Weinberger, former Attorney General Mukasey and others whose judgement and first-hand knowledge of the case I respect, I find their unanimous support for clemency compelling. I believe justice would be served by commuting the remainder of Jonathan Pollard's sentence of life imprisonment".[97][98][99][100]

Lawrence Korb, former assistant secretary of defense under Ronald Reagan, has called on the Obama Administration to grant clemency to Pollard:

Some now argue that Pollard should be released because it would improve U.S.-Israeli relations and enhance the prospects of success of the Obama administration's Middle East peace process. Although that may be true, it is not the reason I and many others have recently written to the president requesting that he grant Pollard clemency. The reason is that Pollard has already served far too long for the crime for which he was convicted, and by now, whatever facts he might know would have little effect on national security.[101]

Former Vice President Dan Quayle wrote a letter to President Obama on January 31, 2011, urging President Obama to commute Jonathan Pollard's sentence.[102]

On February 16, 2011, Arlen Specter wrote a letter to President Obama, stating that, as the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he believed Jonathan Pollard should be pardoned and released from prison. Arlen Specter was the second Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee (the first was Dennis DeConcini) to publicly call for the release of Jonathan Pollard.[103]

On March 22, 2011, more than one hundred New York State legislators signed a petition to President Obama stating, "that we see clemency for Mr. Pollard as an act of compassion justified by the way others have been treated by our justice system".[104]

Christine Quinn, Speaker of the New York City Council, wrote a letter to President Obama on December 26, 2012, formally requesting that he commute Pollard's severely disproportionate and unjust sentence. She stated that he has expressed great remorse. She wrote, "I know I share similar views with many past and current American elected officials" and "therefore, I respectfully urge you to use your constitutional power to treat Mr. Pollard the way others have been treated by our nation's justice system."[105]

In August 2011 Barney Frank sought permission from Congress to discuss the incarceration of Jonathan Pollard and called on Barack Obama to "answer the many calls for Pollard's immediate release". Frank said Pollard has paid a price much higher than anyone else that spied on a friend of the United States and more than many who spied for its enemies.[106]

Congressman Allen West from Florida, wrote a letter to President Obama on June 2, 2011, stating, "After serving 26 years behind bars, Jonathan Pollard's health is deteriorating, as is his wife's. If we can consent to the release by the British of the Lockerbie bomber back to Libya due to health concern, how can we justify keeping Mr. Pollard behind bars when his crimes were clearly not as serious as a terrorist who murdered hundreds of Americans?"[107][108]

On October 26, 2011, a bipartisan group of 18 retired US Senators wrote to President Obama urging him to commute Jonathan Pollard's prison sentence to time served. The letter included senators who initially opposed his release. In the letter it stated, "Mr. Pollard will complete his 26th year of incarceration on November 21, 2011 and begin his 27th year of an unprecedented life sentence (seven of which were spent in solitary confinement). He was indicted on one count of passing classified information to an ally without intent to harm the United States - an offense that normally results in a 2 - 4 year sentence. He plead guilty under a plea agreement with which he fully complied but which was ignored by the sentencing judge. Mr. Pollard is the only person in the history of the U.S. to receive a life sentence for passing classified information to an ally." They conclude, "it is patently clear that Mr. Pollard's sentence is severely disproportionate and (as several federal judges have noted) a gross miscarriage of justice." [109][110]

In a letter to the editor of The Wall Street Journal, published on July 5, 2012, James Woolsey wrote that he now supports release of the convicted spy for Israel, citing the passage of time: "When I recommended against clemency, Pollard had been in prison less than a decade. Today he has been incarcerated for over a quarter of a century under his life sentence." He pointed out that of the more than 50 recently convicted Soviet and Chinese spies, only two received life sentences, and two-thirds were sentenced to less time than Pollard has served so far. He further stated that "Pollard has cooperated fully with the U.S. government, pledged not to profit from his crime (e.g., from book sales), and has many times expressed remorse for what he did." Woolsey expressed his belief that Pollard is still imprisoned only because he is Jewish.[111][112]

Angelo Codevilla, who has followed the Pollard case since serving as a senior staff member for the Senate intelligence committee from 1978 to 1985, argued that the swarm of accusations against Pollard over the years is implausible. On November 15, 2013 Professor Codevilla wrote a letter to President Obama stating," Others have pointed out that Pollard is the only person ever sentenced to life imprisonment for passing information to an ally, without intent to harm America, a crime which normally carries a sentence of 2-4 years; and that this disproportionate sentence in violation of a plea agreement was based not on the indictment but on a memorandum that was never shared with the defense. This is not how American justice is supposed to work." [113]In an interview to the Weekly standard, Codevilla stated, “The story of the Pollard case is a blot on American justice,” The life sentence, "makes you ashamed to be an American.” [114]

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has expressed support for releasing Pollard.[115]

(wiki Johnathan Pollard)