Media Release - September 8, 1999
Pollard: No Meeting With Melchior Planned
JERUSALEM.
Jonathan and Esther Pollard have not agreed to the meetings that were announced by the Israeli Ministry of Social and Diaspora Affairs without prior consultation with them. Copy follows:
"Minister for Social and Diaspora Affairs Rabbi Michael Melchior today (Wednesday) 8.9.99, announced he will meet Mrs. Esther Pollard at the request of Prime Minister Ehud Barak, at his office after the holidays. Minister Melchior will visit Jonathan Pollard during his upcoming visit to the United States towards the end of the year."
Jonathan Pollard responded to the announcement by Minister Melchior's office saying that neither he nor his wife Esther has any plans to meet with Minister Melchior now or in the future.
Pollard said that the only one with the authority to secure his release is the Respondent in the petition he filed in Israeli Supreme Court yesterday, namely Prime Minister Ehud Barak. In the statement that was conveyed by his wife Esther, Pollard added that the Government's attempt to suddenly inject Rabbi Melchior into the picture is nothing more than an empty gesture for Israeli domestic consumption. He stressed that since his release was negotiated as an integral part of the Wye accords, it is the responsibility of Prime Minister Barak to finalize this plan with President Clinton.
Esther Pollard added that in her meeting yesterday with former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, she received personal assurance that President Clinton's commitment to free Jonathan Pollard was an integral part of the Wye Accords. Mrs. Pollard asked the former Prime Minister if Mr. Barak had been briefed about Pollard's release when the reigns of government changed hands. Mr. Netanyahu affirmed that Mr. Barak had been fully briefed.
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