Clarification from Jonathan Pollard Re Eldad Response to IMRA

Jonathan Pollard
FCI Butner
Butner, NC

July 18, 2007

In his letter to IMRA (17 July 2007) MK Aryeh Eldad relates an anecdote in which he claims my wife, Esther, intervened to prevent a minister from visiting me in prison.

Eldad's letter is a good example of how, to quote from our op-ed,* he "dissembles, rewrites history, recycles old canards and simply lies in attempt to poison the minds of others…"

Eldad is careful to omit names, dates and places to make it difficult to challenge his versions of events. Nevertheless, the falsehoods and fabrications are still obvious. Just to mention a few of them:

• Eldad claims he played a role in organizing a prison visit for an Israeli minister. This is not true. He has no standing with the Bureau of Prisons to do so, nor is he a member of the Foreign Ministry staff which liaises with the prison. Eldad has never had any part whatsoever in arranging any of my visits!

• Eldad claims that arranging the ficticious visit required" long and continuous efforts". This too is false. Ministerial visits are arranged swiftly and easily as long as the proper application is made in a timely fashion.

• Eldad does not name the minister he refers to, nor does he mention the date or year. But we can still ferret out the truth from the lies with a little deductive reasoning. If we assume that Eldad is referring to a period of time after 1998 (which was the last time I received a visit from an Israeli minister) then the only minister he might be referring to --- if there is any truth to this story at all-- is the minister that applied to visit me twice within the last 12 months.

• The first time this minister applied, the visit was cleared, all the arrangements were made and at the very last minute, the minister himself cancelled the visit, without any explanation. When asked by a contact of ours (who is a friend of his) why the visit did not occur, the minister falsely accused the prison of withholding clearance!

• The second time this minister applied to visit me he was on his way to the Israel Day Parade in New York when he realized he could kill two birds with one stone. At the last minute, he requested a prison visit, but did not receive immediate approval. Given the logistics involved, it was both inconsiderate and unrealistic to expect the prison to accomodate a visit request that was made virtually overnight.

• Eldad claims my wife called the minister and yelled at him, telling him he was not wanted. This is not true. My wife was never in possession of the minister's telephone number and did not communicate directly with him. Our communication with the minister was solely via the consular representative in Atlanta.

The entire anecdote is woven of half-truths, distortions and fabrications. Yet Eldad has the chutzpah to present this as the basis for slandering my wife in attempt to silence me?!

For 22 years I have been fighting for my life with both hands tied behind my back. My ability to soldier on and fight for justice against all odds is a direct function of my wife's credibility as my spokesperson and representative.

To remove any lingering doubt on this score, I wish to make it very clear that as far as I am concerned, Esther speaks for me on all matters pertaining to my case. I also fully intend to defend myself from any attacks directed at me through Esther, regardless as to their origins.