Upon his arrest, Pollard attempted to seek assylum from the Israeli embassy. The Israeli embassy refused to grant Pollard assylum and he was arrested. Although Israel denied assylum to Pollard, it has been proven that Israel paid thousands of dollars to Pollard for his spying.
In the end Pollard ended up passing a great deal of classified information to Israel. It has recently been discovered that Pollard had also illegally passed information to several other countries, such as Pakistan and Australia. While Israel is an ally of the U.S., they used the classified information given to them by Pollard to serve their own interests. It is unknown the amount of damage this security breach has done to the U.S. Some speculate that Israel might have provided the information to the Soviet Union in return for them letting Jews leave the country. But others claim this accusation is false and baseless and that all the information given to Israel from Pollard was only that related to the Palestinians (such as the location of the PLO's headquarters in Tunisia).
Pollard pled guilty to passing classified information to an ally without intent to harm the United States. Shortly after, his wife, Anne, said the following on an interview with 60 Minutes: "I feel my husband and I did what we were expected to do, and what our moral obligation was as Jews, what our moral obligation was as human beings, and I have no regrets about that." Many Jews and Jewish groups have condemned Pollard's actions and even Secretary of Defense, Caspar Weinberger (who is Jewish), made very clear that Pollard's actions did not represent him. Weinberger made sure that Pollard's prosecutor recomended the maximum possible sentence for his crime: life in prison without parole. This is the harshest punishment ever given in the U.S. to someone accused of espionage. Some say Pollard should have gotten a lighter sentence since Israel is an ally of the U.S.
While many Jewish groups have spoken out against Pollard and his actions against the U.S., there is still a a large number of Jews and pro-Israel groups that believe Pollard was a hero and should be released. This includes the Israeli government. In past meetings with President Bush and Ariel Sharon, one of Sharon's requests has been for Bush to release Pollard. This request has always been met with a fierce NO. When first lady, Laura Bush, visited Jerusalem in May of 2005, she was heckled by Jewish Israelis screaming "Free Pollard Now". In February 2007, pro-Pollard protesters broke into a hotel that U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, was staying at to demand that Pollard was released. In March 2007, Pollard was awarded the "lover of zion" award by The Jerusalem Conference. Israel even awarded Pollard Israeli citizenship in 1998 while he was in jail. The espionage incident was a negative mark on an otherwise good ally.
Israel must stop requesting the release of convicted spy Jonathon Pollard. Pollard committed a crime against America and deserves his punishment. It is important to keep Pollard locked up because, up to this day, he still believes what he did was right. When Israel requests for his release or sympathizes with him, they are only giving the signal that they support his crime against America. Israel is otherwise a strong U.S. ally. Israel should distance itself from Pollard or it risks being viewed as an anti-American country and risks being accused of many wacky conspiracy theories from its opponents.
FBI: Pollard Also Passed Info to Pakistan, Australia
The Lavon Affair
Jonathan Pollard Awarded "Lover of Zion" Prize
Pollard Protesters Break Into Rice's Hotel
The View of a Pro-Pollard Apologist
More Articles on US/Israeli Relations
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Comment:
Pollard should have been executed.
Response:
hey, i wouldn't mind that. at least israel would get off our back about releasing him!