Questionable "New" Spy Case Calculated to Pressure Israel

J4JPnews Release - April 23, 2008


The US has put Israel on the defensive once again, with breaking "news" in the American media, accusing Israel of running a spy in the US prior to the Pollard case.

This is not the first time that American officials have put Israel on the defensive to further a particular political agenda. Nor is this the first time that the Americans have done so by breaking a news story accusing Israel of spying in the US. The latest accusations against Ben-Ami Kadish of New Jersey, an 84-year old former employee of the US Army, is just one more round.

It is not clear for how many years the US has been sitting on this "breaking news" story waiting for the right moment to hurl new accusations against Israel, and falsely and unfairly target Jonathan Pollard by association.

In the past, as soon as the news hype dies down and Israel is on the defensive, the inflated accusations in the American media somehow fade into oblivion, and the only thing that remains is the damage that has been done to Jonathan Pollard by association.

Unlike other espionage cases in the US, which are dealt with on a case by case basis, every accusation against Israel is yielded like a club against Jonathan Pollard - as if the 23 years he has served is somehow not enough to make up for all of the sins of Israel.

In media interviews in Israel today, Esther Pollard expressed disappointment at the failure of Israeli politicians, particularly the Prime Minister, to articulate clearly that the accusations against Kadish in the US, are in no way related to Jonathan Pollard's issue; that Pollard has more than served his time, and that Israel intends to seek his immediate release, separate and apart from any other issue.

Esther Pollard pointed out that Israeli politicians have no shame in making public pronouncements to advance the release of a Palestinian terrorist murderer who is serving five life sentences in an Israeli jail, but can't find their tongue to articulate concern for Jonathan, an Israeli agent in peril, who has served 23 years of a

life sentence

for his activities on behalf of Israel.

Pollard, she said, has served more than 5 times the usual sentence for the offense he committed. He is ill and in danger of life and death. The US has promised his release on a number of occasions - including a commitment at the Wye Summit in 1998. Israel released 750 Palestinian terrorists as the price for Pollard at Wye, but the US has yet to honor its end of the deal by releasing Pollard. According to Dennis Ross, a US senior official at Wye, Pollard's release was withheld at the time, only because the US regards him as too valuable a "bargaining chip" and needed for use against Israel in final status talks.

When asked by Israel's Channel One TV News what impact this latest story will have on chances for her husband's release, Esther responded, "It will have whatever impact Prime Minister Olmert chooses for it to have. To date, Olmert has still not made an official request for Jonathan's release. It is time for the Prime Minister to discharge his legal and moral responsibility, to save the life of an Israeli agent in peril, who has already served a grossly disproportionate sentence. There is solid support for Jonathan's release. Every senior American official familiar with the case and the secret files -people like James Woolsey, former head of the CIA and Senator Dennis DeConcini, former head of the Senate Intelligence Committee at the time of Jonathan's arrest - have been on record for years saying it is time to release Jonathan Pollard. There is no excuse that trumps the 23 years that Jonathan has already served in American prisons."

Esther Pollard noted the suspicious timing of the breaking "news" story, just prior to President Bush's anticipated visit to the region. She dismissed reports predicting that the media frenzy created by the Kadish case had effectively obviated any chance that the President would consider commuting her husband's sentence before he leaves office: " As Bill Clinton so well demonstrated in his release of 14 unrepentant FALN Terrorists in September of 1999, in spite of a solid wall of opposition by all federal authorities including the CIA, the Senate, and his own cabinet, the President's powers of executive clemency are unlimited. If President Bush is determined to finally resolve the injustice in the Pollard case by setting Jonathan free, either as a gesture to Israel or as part of a political deal, nothing can or will tie his hands."

Pollard urged Prime Minister Olmert not to be deterred by this blatant attempt to put Israel on the defensive; and to simply do the right thing: "Bring Jonathan home now, alive, in time for Israel's 60th anniversary!"


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