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Last update - 10:07 25/05/2007
Surrendering its honor
By Yossi Melman

Any self-respecting country would have summoned the U.S. ambassador to the Foreign Ministry and demanded that he clarify his harsh statement that the fact that Jonathan Pollard, an American citizen sentenced to life for spying for Israel, has not been executed should be seen as an act of clemency.

But Israel is a country that has long ago stopped respecting its own sovereignty, given up its independence of thought and subordinated its will to that of Washington. Israel refuses to respond to Syria's offer of negotiations for fear of incurring the wrath of the American administration. It has submitted to the American dictate and established a special unit within the Defense Ministry to monitor security exports, solely because the United States demanded it. And these are only two examples among many in the last few years that indicate the obsequiousness of Israel's political and security leadership before the Washington nobleman.

In light of this, Jerusalem's stammered response to Ambassador Richard Jones' intolerable remark is not surprising. "The fact that he wasn't executed is the mercy that Jonathan Pollard will receive," said the U.S. envoy to Israel. In other words, Pollard, his family and the Israeli government, which controlled his espionage, should be thankful for the "light" sentence he received.
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Jonathan Pollard was a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy when he sold his country's secrets for money to his handlers in Israel. He betrayed his country. There is no dispute over that. Twenty-one years ago, he was given the heavy sentence of life imprisonment.

The Israeli government does not just have a moral responsibility for the fate of its agent. It also contributed significantly to the fact that he's rotting in prison. It began with the hasty decision of Elyakim Rubinstein - then the political attache at the Israeli Embassy in Washington and now a Supreme Court justice - to remove Pollard from the embassy grounds, where he was seeking asylum. He could have been brought in, as the Americans held Soviet citizens in their embassy in Moscow when they sought political asylum. One could have argued that according to the Law of Return, he's an Israeli citizen - in addition to which his handlers had already secretly given him an Israeli passport. It could be that Israel would ultimately have been forced to surrender Pollard, but that should have been done in exchange for an assurance that his sentence would be reduced.

Even after Pollard was handed over in such a shameful way and arrested, Israel could still have helped get him a lighter sentence - for instance, by setting it as a condition for Israeli participation in the investigation. Israel unconditionally provided the United States with the thousands of documents it received from him, thereby helping to incriminate him, without receiving anything in exchange. Even later, Israeli leaders and heads of the intelligence community did not really go out of their way to lobby the American government institutions and intelligence agencies for a pardon for Pollard.

The only one who almost achieved this was Benjamin Netanyahu, during his tenure as prime minister. In 1998, during the peace talks held at the Wye Plantation in Maryland, Netanyahu insisted that Pollard be released as part of the deal with the Palestinians. The U.S. president at the time, Bill Clinton, leaned toward agreeing to do so, but the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, George Tenet, brought all his weight to bear against it, threatening to resign, and Clinton backed off.

Pollard is not the only American citizen since 1980 who has been accused of espionage and given an extended sentence, but the others were despicable ones who caused far more damage to the American national interest. For instance, CIA agent Aldrich Aimes' treachery allowed the Soviet Union to discover the identities of agents working for the United States and execute them. But Pollard is the only one to whom the Americans are so hostile.

It could be because Pollard spied for a friendly country, making his act a more stinging affront. Nonetheless, it's difficult to accept or understand the American lust for revenge when it comes to Pollard. There's something irrational about it. Jones' remarks were rude and bereft of diplomatic tact, reflecting this American pathology that aspires to keep Pollard from ever being pardoned. Even though Jones has apologized, he deserves to be denounced. By essentially ignoring his comments, Israel is adding insult to the injury it has already done Pollard.
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  1.   You are in no position to make demands 11:01  |  Natallie Durson 25/05/07
  2.   Loud Of Old Bollocks that should fool no-one 11:31  |  Johnboy 25/05/07
  3.   #1 natallie and HYPOCRISY RIDE THE RAILS AGAIN 11:40  |  paul harris 25/05/07
  4.   Pollard unmasked American duplicity 12:01  |  Per 25/05/07
  5.   Praise Israel 12:08  |  indrajaya 25/05/07
  6.   FREE JONATHAN POLLARD! 12:37  |  Ohev Tsion 25/05/07
  7.   Yossi, I don`t appreciate your article. 12:50  |  S 25/05/07
  8.   Vanunu... 12:55  |  Hanoman 25/05/07
  9.   What if he is Spy in Israel? 12:59  |  Sharif Hafez 25/05/07
  10.   No Dual Loyalty But Rather Dual Standards 13:08  |  Yisrael Medad 25/05/07
  11.   Has US President the real unrestricted power of clemency? 13:10  |  H.H.M 25/05/07
  12.   It is just simple anti semitism which keep Pollard in prison!!! 13:12  |  arthur 25/05/07
  13.   Traitor? 13:36  |  Dilip Nirody 25/05/07
  14.   You forget he`s an American citizen 14:16  |  Tim 25/05/07
  15.   It`s the Duplicty Yet Again 14:23  |  Yaakov Sullivan 25/05/07
  16.   LOL!!! 14:51  |  T A Sheppard 25/05/07
  17.   Ohev Tsion on Pollard #6 14:57  |  Yaakov Sullivan 25/05/07
  18.   How to restore your self-respect 14:57  |  John Jensen 25/05/07
  19.   Pollard 15:11  |  Realist 25/05/07
  20.   The problem with Pollard 15:15  |  Evelyn 25/05/07
  21.   Kudos to John Jensen 15:39  |  Hanoman 25/05/07
  22.   LOL Evelyn #17 15:46  |  T A Sheppard 25/05/07
  23.   OMG!!! 16:24  |  janmarie 25/05/07
  24.   Evelyn is a living example 16:42  |  Yaakov Sullivan 25/05/07
  25.   the real insult and injury 16:46  |  david 25/05/07
  26.   OMG II 16:47  |  Hanoman 25/05/07
  27.   Sharif Hafez # 9 16:49  |  T A Sheppard 25/05/07
  28.   #10 Yisrael YOU don`t know 16:53  |  T A Sheppard 25/05/07
  29.   long sentences are normal 17:01  |  texdot 25/05/07
  30.   Do you people ever stop and listen to yourselves? 17:03  |  Hubris = disaster 25/05/07
  31.   Any Jewish person who demands Pollard`s release is insane 17:04  |  Steve Holden 25/05/07
  32.   Pollard could`ve received the Death Penalty 17:06  |  Fred Gawen 25/05/07
  33.   Evelyn # 18 17:08  |  Chaval 25/05/07
  34.   Jones/ Pollard --and movie possibilities 17:10  |  D.R. Zukerman 25/05/07
  35.   I suspect... 17:29  |  Avi yerushalmi 25/05/07
  36.   #23 Well-Said!!! 17:29  |  T A Sheppard 25/05/07
  37.   What a load of 17:50  |  bobby 25/05/07
  38.   Am I missing something here? 17:55  |  dervish 25/05/07
  39.   The US ambassador was correct 17:57  |  John 25/05/07
  40.   Free him now!! 18:15  |  adi 25/05/07
  41.   #18 18:27  |  Elias 25/05/07
  42.   Israel. With friends like these 18:29  |  Baz Mann 25/05/07
  43.   A curious conceit 18:36  |  ipse dixit 25/05/07
  44.   Remember Venunu? 18:36  |  Baz Mann 25/05/07
  45.   Pollard is responsible for his treason and his sentence. 20:10  |  Mr. Knowitall 25/05/07
  46.   Problem of Jones is ...why was he sent ? 20:14  |  Chick Corea 25/05/07
  47.   Pollard- look at the facts - US spies for friendly nations 20:19  |  Chick Corea 25/05/07
  48.   @natalie durson, we have enormous influence 20:33  |  vladimir 25/05/07
  49.   Prison Rules: Admit your Crime, Do your Time 20:44  |  Pablo B 25/05/07
  50.   All documents? 20:49  |  Pssd Off American 25/05/07
  51.   Pollard punishment not irrational 21:25  |  Rick 25/05/07
  52.   #6 - Free the traitor - wrong 21:33  |  Rick 25/05/07
  53.   Surrendering its honor, "WHAT HONOR" 22:28  |  Peter 25/05/07
  54.   Extent of harm 22:40  |  W 25/05/07
  55.   Jonathan Pollard 22:59  |  Vince 25/05/07
  56.   Don`t worry, Jew-haters, Pollard will rot in prison 23:00  |  Jake 25/05/07
  57.   And to think . . . 23:08  |  Veritas 25/05/07
  58.   Honor? 23:13  |  P. J. Casey 25/05/07
  59.   #51 Rick; well you laid it out, the good, the bad and the ugly! 23:16  |  ballistic 25/05/07
  60.   #50 Pssd Off American 23:23  |  ballistic 25/05/07
  61.   #51/2 rick BLOWS HIS TOP BUT FORGETS TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR 23:30  |  paul harris 25/05/07
  62.   #56 Say Jake; are you brainwashed or what? 23:44  |  ballistic 25/05/07
  63.   If Israel has an honor, .. 23:48  |  Sharif Hafez 25/05/07
  64.   Interesting that all the anti-Pollard writers here 23:55  |  Chick Corea 25/05/07
  65.   To # 51 , Rick "Punishment not irrational ....! 00:12  |  Henk 26/05/07
  66.   #61 Say Paul, stop whining why don`t you? 00:30  |  ballistic 26/05/07
  67.   Whom one spies for in indeed relevant. 01:04  |  Tom 26/05/07
  68.   Twaddle 01:08  |  Mark Lincoln 26/05/07
  69.   Olmert should go to Bush and demand he denounce Jones 02:34  |  Pablo B 26/05/07
  70.   You left something out 03:43  |  Colin Wright 26/05/07
  71.   Different Perspectives 05:35  |  Rick 26/05/07
  72.   Biting the hand that feeds 05:38  |  Gordon