Pollard Warns of Double-Dupe

October 2, 1998 - Arutz 7 Daily News

"People are so desperate to hear good news about Pollard that they suspend their good judgement... and allow themselves to be duped."

So write Jonathan and Esther Pollard in an emotional letter to Arutz-Sheva. They were referring to yesterday's report in an Israeli paper about recent progress being made in the efforts to attain Mr. Pollard's release. Convicted of spying for Israel, he has been in American prison since 1985. The letter states that the report yesterday to the effect that Pollard had been a main topic of discussion between Prime Minister Netanyahu and U.S. President Clinton, and that the issue is connected to the talks with the Palestinians, is "nothing but a calculated deception aimed at undermining opposition to the second redeployment. It is a complete lie, even the White House denies it."

The Pollards wrote that the government acted similarly prior to the Hevron agreement when it said, "Pollard would be part of the prisoner release once we withdraw from Hebron. We withdrew, and of course, Pollard was not a part of anything. And once it was all over, the government denied ever promising that Pollard would be a part of the Hebron Accords." The letter added, "We are getting far too many emails and faxes indicating that people are swallowing this [new] lie, and allowing themselves to be duped once again." At yesterday's Cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister said that the matter of Jonathan Pollard was raised during his visit to the United States, but that no decision had been taken.