U.S. Jewish leader: Release of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard is 'inevitable'

[Scurrilous]

Speaking to Haaretz, Obama supporter Jack Rosen says 'it looks like he'll be released in the next few years – shortly'; this is despite the Obama administration's stated refusal to discuss Pollard's release.

<snip>

"The release of Jonathan Pollard, the convicted Israeli spy serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison, is "inevitable" and could take place shortly on "technical grounds," a a prominent Jewish leader and supporter of U.S. President Obama told Haaretz.

The comment, made by Jack Rosen, chairman of the Council for World Jewry, who is in Jerusalem to chair the International Conference of Mayors, came in an apparent contradiction to the Obama administration's staunch refusal to discuss Pollard's release.

Notably, late last year the New York Times quoted U.S. Vice President Joe Biden as telling Jewish leaders that the convicted spy would be released "over my dead body."

While later Biden denied he used that exact phrase, he did, however, confirm that the sentiment expressed in that rejection was indeed his own.

Speaking to Haaretz, Rosen, however, said: "Right now, it looks like he'll be released in the next few years – shortly," he said. "There are some technical reasons, I'm told, why he'll be released. I think there's an inevitability to that happening."

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-jewish-leader-release-of-convicted-israeli-spy-jonathan-pollard-is-inevitable-1.428769

[atreides1]

1. Sure

As soon as the traitor succumbs to his illness, and then he can leave feet first That way he'll have his own private seat in the cargo hold of a 747.

[LiberalEsto]

2. Pollard is lucky he wasn't executed for treason nt

[Peregrine]

3. How'd he commit treason?

He didn't wage war against the US. And he didn't give aid and comfort to the enemy. Oh right, this is DU, Israel is the enemy.

[LiberalEsto]

4. He spied for a foreign nation while working for the US Government

and stole US government secrets and provided them to the foreign nation.

I don't know why Israel considers itself a friend of the US when it actively spies on our government.

[aranthus]

5. You don't think that the UK and France spy on us too? n/t

[Ken Burch]

16. If we caught their spies, it goes without saying

that they'd be treated exactly the same.

[cali]

10. LOL. You're kidding right?

and we don't spy on our allies? Get a grip. Go find an old cop of Mad Magazine and peruse Spy v Spy.

Everyone spies on everyone else.

[azurnoir]

11. well than that makes it a-okay right? I mean it is Israel really the question should be

why did we make them resort to these kind of tactics wouldn't you say?

so glad to see you back on board

eta Mr Pollard will be as others have pointed out eligible for parole in 2015 which is IMO soon enough

[cali]

12. uh, did I say that made it OK? Of course not.

What it does say is that contrary to what the poster implied, Israel is hardly the only nation spying on allies.

And I don't think Pollard should be let out.

And of course I didn't say anything about anyone making anyone else use these tactics.

I see you're still employing your old tactics with abandon.

[azurnoir]

13. It was the tone and I did welcome you

I did not say you were wrong about countries spying on each other, or Pollard for that matter but I'm not too sure what you meant by tactics the poster was wrong and that was already pointed out which was the reason for my post

but really I thought Spy vs Spy was kind of a cold war thing or maybe its been that long since I've seen MAD

[shaayecanaan]

14. The CIA swore off recruiting citizens from the UKUSA countries

(the UK, Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand) back in the seventies after the Church committee report was published. They also abandoned the practice of recruiting religious figures (Mormon missionaries were always a favourite) and curtailed the practice of recruiting journalists.

As far as anyone knows, I believe, they have stuck to this rule, although of course each of the countries to the UKUSA alliance more or less consents to all of the other countries invigilating each others citizens in a way that amounts to spying. And of course, no one can stop a diplomat from having a quiet chat with one of his hosts.

[bemildred]

6. Treason:

2. a violation of allegiance to one's sovereign or to one's state.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/treason

Clearly Pollard rises to that level of disloyalty.

On the other hand the Constitutional bar is high:

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

You will find "reasonable" disagreement as to whether Pollard met that criteria.

[LiberalEsto]

7. Former Sec. of State Caspar Weinberger mentions treason in a pre-sentencing statement

http://original.antiwar.com/weinberger/2010/10/17/caspar-w-weinberger-jonathan-pollard/

This is a link to a declassified statement by Weinberger made to the court on the day before Pollard was sentenced.

"I respectfully submit that any U.S. citizen, and in particular a trusted government official, who sells U.S. secrets to any foreign nation should not be punished merely as a common criminal. Rather, the punishment imposed should reflect the perfidy of the individual’s actions, the magnitude of the treason committed, and the needs of national security. Here, although the defendant had executed an oath to protect and safeguard classified information, he betrayed the public trust and the security of the United States in exchange for money. I believe these facts should be weighed heavily in fashioning the sentence to be imposed in order to protect the public confidence in our law, and restore the public’s confidence in our ability and commitment to protect U.S. security."

From Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Pollard
In response to one of Netanyahu's demands that Pollard be freed: "Four past directors of Naval Intelligence, William Studeman, Sumner Shapiro, John L. Butts, and Thomas Brooks, authored a response to the talk of clemency and what they termed "the myths that have arisen from this clever public relations campaign... aimed at transforming Pollard from greedy, arrogant betrayer of the American national trust into Pollard, committed Israeli patriot".[79] They asserted that Pollard passed information to three other countries before engaging in espionage activity on behalf of Israel, and that he had offered his services to a fourth country while he was spying for Israel."

In addition to passing tens of thousands of classified documents to Israel in exchange for money, he sold information to Australia and South Africa and tried to sell information to Pakistan on multiple occasions, according to the Wikipedia article.

Pollard could have applied for parole in 1995 or 1996 after serving 8.5 years in prison, but chose not to, the Wiki article says.

Wiki: "As President Bush was about to leave office in 2009, Pollard himself requested clemency for the first time. In an interview in Newsweek former CIA director James Woolsey endorsed Pollard's release on two conditions: that he show contrition and decline any profits from books or other projects linked to the case. Bush did not pardon him."

Pollard is not going to end up serving a full life sentence; according to the Wiki article: "The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) projects his release date as November 21, 2015," a little more than three years from now.

[bemildred]

9. No need to convince me.

I think he's a self-serving crook, and lucky to be alive. I also think it better to re-iterate his crimes as they are, rather than worry about proving such a slippery charge as "treason".

[shaayecanaan]

8. He'll be eligible for parole in 2015

nothing particularly technical about that.

[Ken Burch]

15. There was never ANY excuse for the Israeli intelligence services to be spying on the U.S.

Our government was ALREADY sharing everything with them.