Jonathan Pollard Remains Central
to the Implementation of the Wye Accords

August 3, 1999 -
Sources: IMRA, JTA and others

In a recent interview, former Netanyahu advisor David Bar Illan stated that at the time of the Wye Accords, Prime Minister Netanyahu secured President Clinton's commitment to free Jonathan Pollard, the former U.S. naval intelligence analyst who is serving a life sentence for spying for Israel.

Israel said at the time that in exchange it had dropped its demand for the arrest and extradition of Ghazi Jabali, the Gaza Strip police chief responsible for planning terrorist attacks against Israel. Israel had also agreed to release an additional 400 Palestinian prisoners, bringing the total to 750 prisoners to be released, many of these of necessity with Jewish blood on their hands, (since Israel simply does not have 750 Palestinian prisoners with no blood on their hands). Netanyahu nearly walked out on the Wye agreement when Clinton reneged on Pollard's release.

Jonathan Pollard was the deal-maker in the Wye Accords. Clinton adviser Sandy Berger and Prime Minister Ehud Barak have made and continue to make strenuous efforts to direct public attention away the issue by insisting that Jonathan Pollard is not linked to the peace process, but this simply is not true. Jonathan Pollard is, was, and continues to be central to the implementation of the Wye Accords.