Unnamed "Govt. Officials" Smear Pollard with False Link to Vanunu

Justice4JP Release - April 22, 2004

Recent statements in the media (inter alia:Yediot; Maariv; Reshet Bet - Apr. 21, 2004) quoting anonymous Israeli "Government officials", and implying that the release of Mordecai Vanunu might compromise information passed to Israel by Jonathan Pollard, are completely false.

These statements are outright lies calculated to smear Jonathan Pollard by association with a known Israeli traitor.

There is no connection between Mordecai Vanunu, who committed treason against the State of Israel by selling her nuclear secrets, and Jonathan Pollard who sacrificed his life by passing vital security information to Israel.

The information Pollard passed to Israeli Military Intelligence is totally unrelated to the Israeli nuclear reactor, where Vanunu worked as a technician. Pollard's information included Syrian, Iraqi, Libyan and Iranian, chemical, nuclear, and biological warfare capabilities -all being developed for use against Israel. It also included information on ballistic missile development by these countries and information on planned terrorist attacks against Israeli civilian targets. Vanunu had no access to this information, available only to security-cleared officials at the highest levels of the Israeli Government.

This latest smear campaign against Pollard emanates from Israel's Security Services and quotes unnamed "Government officials."

The purpose? Massive public pressure for the release of Pollard, generated by a recent feature expose in Yediot Achronot, has become an embarrassment to the Israeli establishment. The blatant refusal of Prime Minister Sharon to raise the issue of Pollard's release with President Bush during their recent meeting in Washington has further inflamed public sentiment. This smear campaign is a crude attempt to dissipate support for the Israeli agent who is in his 19th year of a life sentence in an American prison.