Text: Esther Pollard's Speech at Manhigut Yehudit's Annual Dinner

The Truth About Moshe Feiglin and Jonathan Pollard

New York - March 27, 2005 B"H - Shushan Purim

It is a pleasure to be here tonight at the annual dinner for Manhigut Yehudit. Jonathan and I want to extend our thanks to Moshe Feiglin and Shmuel Sackett for inviting us, and to wish them and Manhigut a hearty "yashar koach!"
What, you may ask, is the connection between Moshe Feiglin and Jonathan Pollard? Why is the Pollard Case the theme at the Manhigut Yehudit annual dinner?
The answer is simple: the common denominator between Moshe and Jonathan is TRUTH. The juncture where Manhigut Yehudit and the Pollard Case meet is TRUTH. We have the same goal: TRUTH -- to seek truth; to fight for truth; to disseminate truth; to firmly establish truth in the world.
Jonathan and I believe that whenever truth is increased in the world, we are increasing the awareness of HaShem in the world and sanctifying His sovereignty over it. Without truth there can be no love of G-d or fellow man, no peace, and no justice. Truth is the basis and sine qua non of all righteousness and morality -- because Truth is HaShem's will and His own seal.
This is a critical moment in the history of the Jewish people. It is a time that we are poised on the brink of destruction. We are bereft of leaders who understand that true Jewish leadership must be subservient to the will of the Almighty. It is only by G-d's grace that we live in The Land. Until we have leaders who recognize this simple fact and act accordingly, we as a Nation will continue to be at the mercy of both our "friends" and our foes.
Our experience over the last 20 years - Jonathan's and my own - has taught us that power is not a gift. Power is a test. HaShem raises up leaders to positions of great power, not to reward them, but to test them. If more people understood this, we might have an entirely different caliber of leader in Israel.
Jonathan and I believe that Moshe Feiglin may be the only leader in Israel today who understands that power is a test. He is the only one we know who is equal to the test. And he certainly is the only one whose goal is to restore G-d's might and power and glory to the Land and People of Israel. That is why we are here tonight in support of both Moshe the man, and Manhigut the organization.
Jonathan saved countless thousands of lives in Israel by acting selflessly upon true Jewish ideals. Moshe is fighting for the same ideals so that (G-d willing) he can be in a position to save lives in Israel in days to come. We urge everyone to support Moshe in his bid for Prime Ministership of Israel. We call upon the People of Israel to vote for him in truth. We urge all those who can vote to ignore political calculation; to forget about "numbers" and "chances" and about choosing "the lesser of two evils". If you want truth, vote for truth. HaShem will do the rest. (Amain!)
Now, with your permission, I would like to shift gears momentarily, and to take this wonderful opportunity which Manhigut has afforded us to increase truth in the world by bringing you up to date on the Pollard case. Jonathan and I hope that by the time you leave here tonight, you will have an entirely new understanding of the totality of the Pollard case. G-d willing you will share your understanding with others, and in so doing you too will increase truth in the world. So without further ado, let me begin with the latest news:

THE HEARING

"The problem with Mr. Pollard is that he thinks he is unique."

These words were spoken about my husband, Jonathan Pollard, by a judge in the US Appeals Court for the District of Columbia.

Jonathan is in his 20th year of an unprecedented life sentence for his activities on behalf of Israel. On March 15, 2005, Jonathan's pro bono attorneys, Eliot Lauer and Jacques Semmelman, appeared before a panel of three judges in the US Appeals Court. Despite outward appearances, Jonathan's case was never heard.

One of the judges, Judge Karen Henderson, asked no questions and made no comments of any kind. Another judge, Judge Judith Rogers, briefly engaged counsel for both sides. The third judge, Judge David Sentelle dominated the hearing. He was openly hostile, mocking and scornful.

Unchallenged by the other two judges, Judge Sentelle hijacked the hearing. He side-tracked the oral argument, verbally harassing and nitpicking on irrelevant matters until the attorneys' time was up. Consequently, the only one heard that day was Judge Sentelle; and much of what he said was either irrelevant or deeply offensive.

For example, Judge Sentelle went so far as to insist that in this case the court does not have the authority to allow Jonathan's security-cleared attorneys access to their client's own sentencing file. How much more obvious could Sentelle's contempt be, than to suggest that the court has no authority over court documents!

Worse, Judge Sentelle's hostile declaration, "The problem with Mr. Pollard is that he thinks he is unique" was deeply offensive to Jews and reverberated painfully in Israeli media reports.

"You are not unique" is code talk that has been used over and over again throughout the ages by those hostile to Israel and Jews, to deny concerns that Jews are being singled out for 'special treatment.' It is the most routine of anti-Semitic devices, and it seems that it is always used precisely when Jews are indeed being singled out.

What makes Judge Sentelle's remark even more stunning, is that it so blatantly flies in the face of the facts.

THE CASE IS UNIQUE

Here are some of the unique features of the Pollard case which Judge Sentelle wishes to dismiss:

Jonathan Pollard is the only person in the history of the United States to receive a life sentence for spying for an ally.
Jonathan is in his 20th year of a life sentence for an offense which carries a median sentence of 2 to 4 years.
Jonathan received his life sentence without benefit of trial, as the result of a plea bargain which he honored and the Government abrogated.
Jonathan was forever deprived of his legal right to a direct appeal of his life sentence, because of egregious ineffective assistance of counsel. His first attorney failed to file a simple notice of intent to appeal.
Jonathan's is the only espionage case in which then-Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger personally intervened to influence the court.
Weinberger delivered a memorandum to the sentencing judge, falsely accusing Jonathan of treason - a crime he was never accused of nor indicted for - and called for the maximum sentence of life.
Since Jonathan was sentenced in 1987, neither he nor his security-cleared attorneys have ever been permitted to access the Weinberger document to challenge the lies it contains in a court of law.
Jonathan is still not permitted to access the document even though Weinberger himself admitted in a 2002 interview that the case against Jonathan Pollard was actually "a small matter" and that it had been blown up and "made far bigger than its actual importance." (See article.)

CRUEL AND UNUSAL PUNISHMENT

Another unique feature of this case is the repeated attempts by the FBI to make Jonathan "buy" his way out of nightmarish prison conditions by incriminating other prominent American Jews. He was repeatedly asked to point out "co-conspirators" on list of Jewish names he was shown. Jonathan adamantly refused.

More troubling still, are the numerous episodes of cruel and unusual punishment which Jonathan has been subjected to - not only at the start of this case, but even as recently as the fall of 2003 when he was held in Washington for two weeks pending a September 2nd court date

Some examples of cruel and unusual punishment Jonathan has endured include:

being held naked, and incommunicado, in a prison facility for the criminally insane for a over a year (at Springfield)
being held in harsh conditions in solitary confinement for nearly 7 years (at Marion)
being held naked, and incommunicado, in freezing temperatures in a dungeon cell (at Lewisberg)
being subjected to extreme sensory deprivation
being subjected to severe physical degradation
being held in a sealed cell and gassed with chemical spray
being chained to a shower stall and blasted by torrents of ice water for long periods at a stretch
being denied appropriate medical treatment
being deprived of critical medication
being zapped into convulsions with an electric cattle prod

POLITICS NOT JUSTICE

Perhaps the feature of this case which is the most disturbing is the way in which it has been exploited over the last 2 decades by Government agencies. Jonathan's continued incarceration has been a very useful tool for the Government in the following ways:

The case is used to undermine Israel.

The case is used to slander Jews

Government memos, like the one the Defense Department issued in 1996 which was leaked to the media, cite the Pollard case as the reason the Jews cannot be trusted. The 1996 Defense Memo identified Israel as a "non- traditional adversary", not an ally. The Pollard case is always dredged up and paraded in the media by the Government officials any time a new spy case breaks, or whenever Israel needs to be brought to heel. The 1997 Mega Spy Scandal (which turned out to be baseless) and the recent AIPAC Spy Scandal are examples. Both cases had nothing to do with Jonathan Pollard, yet his name was blasted all over the media as the prime example of how Israel and the Jews cannot be trusted.
The case is used to pander to the Arabs

In the government's damage assessment of the case - the Victim Impact Statement - the worst "damage" that Jonathan was accused of was that he had angered the Arab allies by making Israel too strong. The harsh sentence he received and the "special treatment" he has been subjected to, has been and continues to be an "offering" to appease the oil-rich Arabs.
The case is used to purge Jews from Government.

Jonathan was not the cause of anti-Semitism in the Intelligence Community; he was one of its victims. But his case is still used to justify Government witch-hunts to root out Jews in sensitive positions and cancel their security clearances. The David Tanenbaum and Adam Ciralsky cases - both were Jews ousted from the Intelligence community because of their affiliation with Israel - are examples of this purge.

HIDING BEHIND A VEIL OF SECRECY

The Justice, Intelligence and Defense Departments willingly collude to keep the truth about the Pollard case buried. This ensures that the Government can continue to exploit the case for other purposes, such as the above. It also explains why the Government is so determined to keep Jonathan's own court docket hidden under a veil of secrecy.

The best legal minds in the country support Jonathan's right to access the material in his own sentencing docket. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), The American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists (AAJLJ) and prominent individuals have filed a "Friend of the Court Brief" in support of access to the documents. Their Amicus brief expresses some compelling concerns about this case.

Others who have expressed their concerns about this case are:

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton

, who said that she is troubled by 'sentencing issues' in the Pollard case; (See Cialsky page), the number 3 man at the justice department when the Pollard case broke, has repeatedly said that there is nothing in the Pollard file to justify the sentence he received;

Senator Charles Schumer, Congressman Anthony Weiner

and other American legislators have voiced similar concerns. All those who have seen the classified file, including Schumer and Weiner, say that it does not contain any justification for the life sentence Jonathan received.

And then there's

Dennis Ross

, Special Envoy to the Middle East during the Clinton Administration. In his new book,

THE MISSING PEACE

, Ross openly acknowledges that Jonathan's sentence is disproportionate and that he should be freed without condition.

Nevertheless, says Ross, Jonathan is too valuable as a bargaining chip with Israel to be freed as a matter of simple justice. Instead, Ross explains, Pollard should go free only in return for major concessions from Israel during "final status talks" with the Palestinians. No other American ally is treated with such disdain. Clearly it is politics, not justice which drives the Pollard case.

THE PROBLEM IS NOT WITH MR. POLLARD

No, Judge Sentelle. The problem is not with Jonathan Pollard.

It is with those American officials who, through 5 successive administrations, have used this case as a device to call into question the loyalty of American Jews and Israel's reliability as an ally.

The problem is with those officials in the Justice, Intelligence and Defense Departments who allow the case to fester because it is such a fine weapon with which to bludgeon Israel and the Jews.

And of course, the problem lies with Israel and the American Jewish leadership whose silence and complicity have exacerbated the situation and prolonged Jonathan's agony. By continuously turning their backs on Government excesses and judicial inequities in the Pollard case, they have tried to convince themselves that this really has nothing to do with them. Then along comes Judge Sentelle and reminds them that it does.

Israel and the American Jewish leaders have sat back for nearly 2 decades, patiently waiting for the American justice system to prove that it works as well for Jews as it does for every other religious minority. Yet, every time Jonathan Pollard - the Jew who spied for the Jewish state - encounters the American justice system, the entire Jewish world is slapped in the face all over again.

GEORGE WASHINGTON AND JONATHAN POLLARD

Two hundred years ago, President George Washington visited the Truro Synagogue of the Jewish community of Rhode Island. He later penned a letter to the community declaring that Jews are welcome as full citizens of the United States of America and equal in every respect:

"It is now no more that toleration is spoken of," Washington wrote, "as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights." He also declared that the government gave "to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance."

Denied justice for 20 years, Jonathan's case has become a noxious poison draining the vitality of the American Jewish community and undermining America's relationship with Israel. If the promise that George Washington made to American Jews two hundred years ago is to be honored; if the Jewish community in America is to have a future in this country, then justice for Jonathan Pollard, long delayed, must finally be done.

The Pollard case is not only about Jonathan Pollard. It is about America's real attitude towards Jews and its relationship with Israel. It is also about whether or not the nation which is so devoted to bringing freedom to other parts of the world is capable of freeing itself. Government lies and judicial collusion are keeping Jonathan Pollard in prison. It is time for them to stop.

As long as Jonathan Pollard remains in prison, truth and justice in America are in prison too.