Maariv Full Front Page: Rubinstein: Israel must act to free Pollard
Arik Bender - Maariv - November 16, 2010
Translated to English by Justice4JP - (excerpt)
Supreme Court Justice Eliyakam Rubinstein, in rare public remarks last night added his voice to the mounting calls to the United States to free Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard.
Rubinstein who was the Israeli attaché in Washington and the senior-most official at the Israeli Embassy on the day that Pollard was arrested at the gates of the embassy, on November 21, 1985, made his comments last night at the Menachem Begin Center in Jerusalem at an event marking the 95th birthday of the 7th prime minister of Israel, Yitzhak Shamir.
In the course of his speech at the event which was attended by a number of notables including Ministers Benny Begin and Moshe Yaalon; the former Head of the Mossad Shabbtai Shavit; and Yair Shamir, the son of Yitzhak Shamir, Justice Rubinstein suddenly departed from his topic and said:
"I do not usually speak in public, so I would like to take this opportunity in order to say a few words about Jonathan Pollard."
"Twenty-five years ago Pollard was caught by the American FBI. On the day that Pollard was arrested by the American agents, I was in charge of the Israeli Embassy in Washington. I heard about the arrest only after the fact"
"Twenty-Five Years is a Heavy Price"
"I hope and believe that the Government of Israel will continue to act to free Jonathan Pollard," Rubinstein continued. "Many mistakes have been made. But there is no way to go back and undo the past. The time has come for both moral and humane reasons to free Jonathan Pollard. Twenty-five years
is a heavy price. It is my hope that the United States, as an enlightened country, will release him."