The U.S. is denying reports that American-Israeli prisoner Jonathan Pollard has become a trading chip in order to save the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
In the past several days, reports have been circulating concerning the pending release of American-Israeli prisoner Jonathan Pollard in exchange for the freedom of 26 Palestinian and Israeli-Arab terrorists. On Wednesday, IDF Radio confirmed the rumors, saying that the U.S. had made an official offer.
“I am very skeptical,” Economy Minister Naftali Bennett said. “I have not yet seen the US putting its hand in its pocket on the Pollard matter. I don’t estimate that this will happen.”
The prisoner release is scheduled for this Saturday as the fourth and final stage of an agreement made by Israel, under U.S. pressure, to free 104 prisoners with blood on their hands in order to continue the peace process. Those freed earlier have been welcomed home by the Palestinian Authority as heroes.
Israel has been reconsidering the release this weekend due to a deterioration in negotiations.
A U.S. offer to free Pollard seems to be a desperate act to save the peace process, commentators have noted.
“There are no plans to release Jonathan Pollard at the moment,” said State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki, following several news reports indicating that the matter was under discussion.
“Jonathan Pollard was convicted of espionage against the United States – a very serious crime. He was sentenced to life and is currently serving his sentence,” Psaki said, although she made no comment on whether a deal had in fact been suggested nor any commitment that such an offer will never be given.
Jonathan Pollard’s Incarceration is a ‘humanitarian issue’
The prisoners released in the first three stages as well as those freed in exchange for Israeli hostage Gilad Shalit included vicious murderers who immediately resumed their terror activities. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas gave the terrorists who returned home to PA-administered territories a hero’s welcome.
Pollard had never posed any danger to society.
Member of Knesset Motti Yogev, in an interview with Israel National News on Wednesday, declared:
“Jonathan Pollard should have been released a long time ago. His punishment has been far beyond proportional for such an offense. He is in his 30th year in prison. They wouldn’t even let him go to his father’s funeral…. If we take into account the fact that he is ill, there is a humanitarian issue here.”
Offering Jonathan Pollard in Exchange for Terrorists: ‘human trafficking’
Ted Belman, editor and publisher of Israpundit, suggested that an American offer to free Pollard would be akin to “human trafficking.”
“While I have always argued that Jonathan Pollard’s punishment was cruel and unusual punishment and that it was motivated by antisemitism, I am totally against Israel making any concessions or gestures to get him released,” Belman stated.
“Pollard’s case demands justice and his release,” he added. “Nothing more is needed. He should be released because it is the just thing to do and not because we bought his release.”
Yogev believes that Pollard, if asked, would refuse the deal.
“If the Americans are thinking about using Pollard as a bargaining chip, then this is yet another step in the moral deterioration of the foreign policy of President Obama and his Secretary of State, John Kerry, and we should not cooperate with this,” he told INN. “I do not want to insult them. There is a lot of strategic cooperation between Israel and the U.S., but they have been showing their immorality bit by bit.
“Pollard should be released unconditionally and murderous terrorists should not be released under any circumstances,” he affirmed. “The U.S. would never release terrorists who carried out such cruel acts. Their pressure on us to release terrorists so negotiations continue, as well as pressuring us for a construction freeze, is one-sided and unethical, and tying Jonathan Pollard into it is grossly immoral.”
Author: Atara Beck, Staff Writer, United with Israel
Date: Mar. 26, 2014