The Pollard-Schalit Connection

Esther Pollard - The Jerusalem Post - July 11, 2010


The government of Israel has flailed about for four years "trying" to secure Gilad Schalit's release, but failing miserably.

The more time goes on, the more doubts there are about Schalit's continued viability.

It is a fact that ever since my husband, Jonathan Pollard, was arrested in 1985 and abandoned by the State of Israel, the Israeli government has not succeeded in bringing a single captive IDF soldier home alive.

It may well be that Gilad Schalit's swift return home, alive, depends on his connection to Jonathan Pollard.

How so? Let's answer that question by way of analogy.

WHAT IS the best that can be said about a mother with two sons with special needs, who allows her friends to lock her elder son away in a cellar and throw the key away, while she devotes all her time, energy and attention to her younger son? To be kind, such a mother would, at best, be described as either morally deficient or mentally disturbed.

Regardless of how her psychological state is defined, it is twisted and precludes her ability to act wisely, fairly or effectively for either of her sons. The two sons are part of the same psychological whole, but a mentally unbalanced mother is unable to relate to either of them in a healthy, normal, life-sustaining way.

Worse still, her psychological state prevents her from seeing and accurately accessing all of the available options for her sons, and thus impedes her from making good decisions for either of them.

Thus, it is specifically her abandonment and betrayal of her older son that defines the mother's moral/psychological state and prevents her from taking the most effective and appropriate action to save her younger son.

Jonathan Pollard and Gilad Schalit are sons of the same mother, the State of Israel.

Pollard and Schalit have more in common than the fact that they both served the State of Israel.

Schalit served as a soldier, guarding its borders. Pollard served as an agent, providing it with the information that caused its civil defense plans to be changed from bomb shelters to sealed rooms and gas mask kits - not a small contribution to the state's ongoing security.

Both Pollard and Schalit remain in captivity because of a warped morality that prevents government leaders from making good decisions for either of its national sons.

The national psychosis which declared Pollard expendable 25 years ago and leaves him to rot in captivity is still ongoing, and has resulted in a moral paralysis which prevents the State of Israel from taking effective action to bring any captive home alive, Gilad included.

EFFECTIVE ACTION does not mean the release of hundreds or thousands of murderers and terrorists.

Quite the opposite. Effective action, by definition, is action that would produce the desired result - freedom for a captive - without endangering the rest of Israel's soldiers or civilian population.

Surrendering to terror and rewarding those who killed, maimed and murdered by setting them free is not justified and is morally corrupt. This plan seeks to free one captive by endangering the lives of all Israeli citizens and all Israeli soldiers.

There are many ways to free a captive and bring him home alive, but a lack of moral integrity prevents the government from seeing or implementing these other solutions.

The government and its cohorts in the defense-intelligence establishment appear to be far more concerned about what will be said on CNN than they are about freeing captives and bringing them home.

Similarly, the public, via the media, has been seduced into believing that Israel has one captive and one captive only: Gilad Schalit. Any attempt to bring Pollard into the discussion is met with vehement protest and slanderous lies being bandied about by government officials attempting to shake Pollard off, the way you would shake something odious off of the bottom of your shoe.

Again, this is the root of the problem that keeps both Pollard and Schalit in captivity. It is a manifestation of one of Israel's highest values, not leaving a wounded solder in the field, being warped and perverted to apply it selectively.

By definition, there is no such thing as mutual responsibility - all for one and one for all - when it is applied selectively.

If the public is capable of ignoring Pollard, an Israeli agent in captivity for 25 years, but devoted heart and soul to returning Schalit home, its concern for Schalit is as corrupt as its lack of concern for Pollard. It reflects the same moral schizophrenia that the government has implemented as policy - a policy that damns Schalit, every bit as much as it damns Pollard.

Returning a captive home requires no moral ambiguity. It requires moral integrity and moral consistency. It requires national pride and self-respect.

The noisy, boisterous and bullying campaign for Gilad Schalit would do well to open its eyes to the truth. Jonathan Pollard's rescue and timely return home is the key to bringing all of our captives home alive.

The writer is the wife of Jonathan Pollard, an American-born Israeli citizen who worked for the Ministry of Defense. He is currently in his

25th year

in an American prison for his activities on behalf of the security of the State of Israel.
This article can also be read here.

  • See Also: Hebrew Translation: The Pollard - Shalit Connection - by Esther Pollard - The Jerusalem Post:

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