Palestinians, Not Israelis, Played Pollard Card At Wye

November 1, 1998 - Memo and CNN Excerpt

During the recent negations at the Wye Summit , the Palestinian delegation raised the issue of the release of Jonathan Pollard and suggested that if the Americans would make the gesture to Israel, then Israel's might in turn drop its demand for extradition of Ghazi Jebali, (chief of police in Gaza and responsible for planning terrorist attacks.) All parties agreed, and a deal was sealed Thursday night, October 22, 1998.

President Clinton promised that he would give Mr. Netanyahu a side-letter the following morning Friday October 23, 1998 specifying that Mr. Pollard would be released to Israel 20 days after the signing of the formal accord that same day (October 23, 1998).

The next morning Mr. Clinton failed to produce the promised side-letter, but still expected Mr. Netanyahu to go through with signing the formal accord. Mr. Netanyahu's strong protest and Clinton's complete turn-about on the deal drew world attention. The CIA added to the imbroglio by leaking the story to the media and by immediately launching a smear campaign on Capitol Hill to torpedo any chance of releasing Jonathan Pollard. (Note the close cooperation and support of Israel completely absent from the CIA's efforts on Capitol Hill.. this is the same CIA that is now to monitor Palestinian security commitments...)

The following item is excerpted from an October 25, 1998 CNN interview of Prime Minister Netanyahu by Wolf Blitzer. In this interview (and others) Mr. Netanyahu confirms that it was NOT the Israeli delegation that put the Pollard Card on the negotiating table, but the Palestinians. independent sources in both delegations confirm Mr. Netanyahu's statement. (See also Peace process or spin politics?)


CNN Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer - Exerpt - October 25, 1998

BLITZER:

... How did it come about Friday morning that Jonathan J. Pollard, that that issue disrupted this peace signing ceremony for so many hours? What happened?

NETANYAHU:

Well, the issue of Pollard was not presented by us at that time. It had been raised previously by me, and previously to Washington, including the first day of the Wye talks.

BLITZER:

Directly to the president?

NETANYAHU:

Yes. But all I can say is that I hope that we would find a way to release Pollard. has, did a terrible thing. He did a thing that we, he has paid for. He has been, now, virtually in solitary confinement for 13 years. And he did what he did not to hurt the United States, but in a mistaken effort to help Israel against Saddam Hussein, against Iraq itself.

He shouldn't have done it. He's paid dearly for it. And I had hoped that in the course of winding up this negotiation, where I'm asked to free hundreds, 750 Palestinian prisoners, who have committed crimes against Israel, I'm asked to free them -- I'm going to -- that the same will happen here, that there would be an opportunity to find this moment of clemency.

The president explained to me that there's a process, a review process that he must go through and I hope that he and his colleagues who'll make this evaluation will find pity in their hearts to forgive.

BLITZER:

But did you have any reason to believe Friday morning he would release Jonathan J. Pollard, and he might even fly home with you on your plane?

NETANYAHU:

Well, I certainly had hoped that that would happen, not necessarily that he would fly back on the plane, but that he would be released. And I still hope that he would be released.

BLITZER:

But there was one suggestion by one Israeli official, who said to me directly that the president reneged on a commitment.

NETANYAHU:

I'm just not going to get into this whole area, and I think, I accept that the president will make a deep and introspective look into this. And I hope that he finds the way and the will to allow us to bring back this person, who did wrong for America, but did it out of, did it for a reason he believed was just.

You know, I've looked at the years in which the United States fought for its MIAs, and sometimes even for its agents. And I've always respected that. And essentially, that's what we're trying to do. He served his time, and he's paid a heavy price. And I just hope that out of totally humanitarian reasons, he will be set free and allowed to go to Israel.

BLITZER:

One last question on this point, though. Do you have any commitments from the president, any understanding beyond what he said publicly, that he would review it, that he made no commitment to you?

NETANYAHU:

He merely said that he would review it, and he did not tell me what the outcome of that review would be....