Pollard's Wife Encouraged By Liba'i Support

The Jerusalem Post - July 18, 1994

Every day that Jonathan Pollard spends in prison is a day too many, Justice Minister David Liba'i told Pollard's wife yesterday.

Esther Zeitz-Pollard arrived here last week to campaign for the immediate release of her husband, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the US in 1987 for passing on classified documents to Israel.

She described the meeting as "extremely positive," and said Liba'i had encouraged her to do everything possible to free her husband while noting he was also continuing his efforts on Pollard's behalf.

"I was very pleased that Liba'i made a statement of commitment in the name of the government and said he would personally recommend to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin that he meet with me before his visit to the US [at the end of the week]," Zeitz-Pollard said.

"If Israel shows a sign that it is serious about obtaining his release, and the government knows what it has to do, then my husband could be freed," she said, adding she based this on information she had from official sources.

Following yesterday's meeting, Liba'i said, "It's not in my hands. She knows Israel can't release him and she understands and he was found guilty of very serious charges. The decision is up to the US president. What she wants of the Israeli government is to express her [Zeitz-Pollard's] special concern for his current situation and her hope for immediate action by the US administration which would bring about his freedom".

In an interview last week, Zeitz-Pollard blasted those people who have told the couple to wait for his parole review in two years, saying that it was simply a "no action" policy.

Zeitz-Pollard said in the interview that her husband wanted the answers to several questions including: why Israeli consuls-general have been told not to see him; why Israel is not taking steps to secure his immediate release; and why the government has not responded to statements by the chairman of the US President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board Les Aspin, who characterized Pollard as a traitor, a charge for which he was not tried.