Pollard Blasts 'Bogus' Offer
April 3, 1998 - Batsheva Tsur - The Jerusalem Post
Convicted spy Jonathan Pollard said yesterday he has instructed his attorney to cease all negotiations with the Israeli government following what he termed "a bogus offer of official recognition by the government of Israel."
Pollard was offered a formula which would declare that he was conscripted by people acting on behalf of Israel, albeit without the government's official blessing, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
The formula was proposed to Pollard's Jerusalem lawyer, Larry Dub, by Shimon Stein, legal adviser at the Prime Minister's Office. It had the tacit approval of the defense establishment and Attorney-General Edna Arbel.
But Pollard reacted angrily to the proposal. From his Butner, North Carolina penitentiary he said yesterday: "I did not spend 13 years in prison to endorse a lie. The truth must come out so that I may be freed."
At the time of Pollard's arrest with his first wife Anne, the government described the affair as "a rogue operation."
But according to Pollard, his operations on behalf of Israel received full government sanction.
"The truth is simple and clear: I was an Israeli agent employed by the Lakam branch of Intelligence in an operation that was fully sanctioned by the government of Israel," he said yesterday.
"Anything less than that is a distortion of the truth that is counterproductive to the goal of securing my release."
Pollard has petitioned the High Court of Justice for official state recognition of his role as an agent.
In a hearing last month, the court gave the state 60 days to prove it was doing everything possible to secure his release.
Yesterday, Absorption Minister Yuli Edelstein, who was the first government minister to visit Pollard and has been vociferous in his support of him, reiterated that Pollard was entitled to full recognition by Israel.
Such recognition would provide him with monthly compensation while he is in prison, cover his lawyers fees and entitle him to medical care from a private physician.
[Justice for Jonathan Pollard notes:
the Pollards have rejected out of hand any discussion of financial assistance from the govenment. In a letter to Dani Naveh Pollard wrote, "Mr. Naveh, please be advised that any discussion of financial assistance is irrelevant at this time. I do not want an allowance in prison. All I want is to come home. Once I am home I will also be able to get the medical treatment I need."]
Following Pollard's rejection of the formula proposed by Stein, the government legal adviser is expected to make a more far-reaching offer to Pollard, a source said yesterday.