Reciprocity For Jonathan Pollard

February 21, 1997 - The Jewish Press - Editorial

The recent Hebron agreement was a golden - but missed - opportunity for Israel to have secured the release of Jonathan Pollard.

It is no secret that President Clinton pushed Mr. Netanyahu very hard to abide by Peres' commitments to redeploy, and that a considerable amount of the President's prestige was on the line. It is also clear that one of Arafat's principal demands in the discussions - although technically not related - was that Israel go through with its promise to release

30 female Palestinians terrorists from Israeli prisons

.

What is disturbing to us is that Mr. Netanyahu

did not insist

that, if he is being asked to free unrepentant murdereresses and attackers of innocent civilians, the U.S. should also free the hapless Pollard. After all,

Pollard aided a U.S. ally, and has been languishing in a federal prison for 12 years in solitary confinement!

And why didn't the former Prisoner of Zion,

MK Natan Sharanksy

, insist that as a condition of his voting in favor of the Hebron agreement, Mr. Netanyahu importune President Clinton on Pollard's behalf? Mr. Sharansky is free and sits in the Cabinet today only because of the concern of Jews around the world for him. How could he simply go along with the turning loose of Rola Abyu Dahu - who murdered Yigal Shachaf and who declared soon after being released that she would continue to "wage a violent struggle against the Israeli population?" -

without even a promise about Pollard?

Finally, New York State has two powerful United States Senators. One, Al D'Amato, has distinguished himself with his extraordinary efforts to bring to light the enormous issue of the Swiss banking industry's stealing of assets of Holocaust victims.

We once again urge Daniel Patrick Moynihan to take up the cause of Mr. Pollard. As a senior United States Senator from the same party, Senator Moynihan is well positioned to get Mr. Clinton to appreciate the anomaly of his continuing Jonathan Pollard's incarceration while urging the release of remorseless killers and terrorists. Senator Moynihan ennobled himself with his leadership in getting the UN to repeal the odious "Zionism is Racism" resolution. He can move to correct a great wrong now as well.

Too many people with power and influence have been silent too long.

  • Email Senators Moynihan and D'Amato
  • Call or write Senators Moynihan and D'Amato

  • See also:
  • Jonathan Pollard's response to this article
  • An editorial on Senator Moynihan's response to this article