Last update - 00:00 13/11/2006
High Court rejects Pollards' petition against Eitan appointment
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
The High Court of Justice on Monday rejected a petition filed by Esther and Jonathan Pollard, which asked the court to force Minister of Pensioner Affairs Rafi Eitan to resign.
The Pollards' argued that the appointment of Eitan, who served as Pollard's handler in the 1980s, eliminates any chance that Pollard will be released from a United States prison.
Pollard was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty in 1986 to spying for Israel.
Justices Dorit Beinish, Ayala Procaccia and David Cheshin expressed sympathy for Esther Pollard, who "wanted to express her outcry in our ears," but nonetheless called the Pollards' argument baseless.
In any event, the court said, the issue relates to the diplomatic ties between Israel and the United States, an area in which the court does not intervene.
"There is no disputing the fact that Pollard's personal situation is extremely difficult," wrote Chief Justice Beinish in the court's ruling. "State representatives have on a number of occasions declared before the court that they are committed to working for his release."
The High Court justices also ruled that the Pollards' claims regarding Eitan's performance as Pollard's handler are based on media reports and rumors.
"The claims deal with factual questions that have no official confirmation that they are true," wrote Beinish. "The petitioners said that even Eitan himself was not acting on his own accord but in conjunction with the Israeli government, in which case he can not bear personal and sole responsibility as [the Pollard's] claim."