Esther Pollard: Sharon's Deception Will Not Succeed

J4JP Release - September 14, 2005

Esther Pollard gave the following statement to Yaron Deckel of Kol Yisrael Radio News, in response to Israeli reports that Prime Minister Sharon had asked President Bush to free her husband Jonathan Pollard, and the President allegedly refused:

"I stand by the statement I made prior to PM Sharon's departure: if Sharon were an honorable man he would not only make promises, but also keep them. Sharon believes he can fool the nation into believing that he is really trying to secure the release of Jonathan Pollard, but the nation is no longer that naive.
Everyone knows that this was nothing but a big show that Sharon put on. Before he met with Bush, Sharon sent his people out to destroy any possibility that Jonathan might be released. "Officials close to Sharon" were already flooding the Israeli media a day before the meeting spreading the message that there is no chance that Bush will agree to free Pollard.
We know from our contacts in Washington that this message reached the White House and was understood. Bush knew that all he had to do was go along with the show that Sharon was staging for domestic Israeli consumption.
Sharon of course took care to 'ask' for Jonathan in front of many witnesses, to make sure that the refusal would be registered in the Israeli media with all due credibility. Sharon thinks he has achieved his PR goal, but all he has done is prove to the nation once again that he has no honor.
I call upon all of Israel's MKs and Ministers: will you to continue to stand idly by and allow Sharon to play this wicked game and bury my husband alive?
Even if one wanted to believe Sharon, it simply is not credible that the US would refuse to release my husband who has already sat 20 years in prison for his service to Israel, especially after Sharon has responded favorably to every one of Bush's demands, freeing murderers and terrorists, expelling Jews from their homes and land, and this is only the beginning of the US demands. What are we, a nation of suckers? A nation that is willing to sit back and take such a refusal without even a whimper of protest? Where is Israel's leadership? Silence at a time like this is tantamount to complicity with Sharon."

J4JP adds:

If Prime Minister Sharon really wanted to secure Jonathan Pollard's release, he would not have made the request in front of so many people. And unless he had pre-arranged the answer he would receive, he would never have put the President on the spot. J4JP believes that the only reason Sharon played this game was in response to intense media pressure in Israel for Pollard just prior to Sharon's departure to the US. Because Sharon felt pressured, he orchestrated a show for domestic public consumption. Boosha v'cherpa!