Pollard "Came Up"

May 17, 1998 - Arutz-7 Radio News

Cabinet Secretary Danny Naveh visited Jonathan Pollard on Friday, and presented him with the official government decision recognizing him as an Israeli agent. Naveh also gave Pollard a personal letter from Prime Minister Netanyahu promising him that the government will continue to "work unswervingly to bring you home."

Pollard thanked Naveh, and reiterated that the visit of Israeli officials to his prison cell is an important part of the campaign to achieve his release.

Israeli reporters asked him afterwards what his hardest moment in prison was. Pollard answered, "It was when I saw on television Iraqi missiles falling on Israel. I had a feeling of failure. I had hoped that my actions would somehow prevent things like that. I felt that I had failed. My country and my people were attacked, and I failed to protect them. That was the lowest moment."

State Department spokesman James Rubin, asked whether the U.S. is now more likely to release Pollard, said, "The President has denied [in the past] his application for clemency... Any decisions about Pollard's release would be made in accordance with US law... This is a domestic legal issue." When asked whether the topic had come up in the Netanyahu-Albright talks, Rubin said, "I can't rule out that it came up, but it certainly wasn't the essence and the bulk of their discussions.