National Post (National Edition)
The case for pardoning Jonathan Pollard
Much has been made of U.S. President Barack Obama’s failure to close down the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. But at least those being held at Guantanamo are enemies of the United States. Much less attention has been paid to the treatment of someone who means the United States no harm — yet has been languishing in a North Carolina prison cell for 28 years.
Jonathan Pollard was a United States Navy intelligence analyst who, in the mid-1980s, discovered the U.S. government was withholding intelligence about nuclear and chemical weapons being developed by Syria, Iraq, Lybia and Iran from the Israelis — information Israel was entitled to under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries.
Having failed to convince his U.S. colleagues to share the information, Pollard began covertly passing intelligence to an Israeli agent in 1984. He was discovered 18 months later and, having been refused sanctuary in the Israeli embassy, has been sitting in prison ever since.
The nature of Pollard’s intentions do not excuse his actions: Spying against one’s own country is a serious crime, a capital offence in many parts of the world. But a typical U.S. prison sentence for spying for a friendly nation is five years. The amount of time Pollard has spent in jail is unprecedented in U.S. history.
Pollard originally pled guilty as part of a plea deal that would have prevented him from spending the rest of his life in prison. That deal was never honoured by prosecutors, and Pollard received a life sentence in 1987.
Part of the problem has been that both the American and Israeli governments have kept details of the case under a cloud of secrecy. Israel did not officially recognize Pollard as an operative until 1998. Until recently, influential U.S. intelligence personnel have pushed to keep him behind bars.
A CIA document declassified last week, however, might change their attitude. It indicates that the information leaked by Pollard in the mid’80s focused on U.S.-gathered intelligence regarding Israel’s Arab neighbours, not regarding America’s own military or technological capabilities.
The document also confirms what was long suspected: That the trial judge disregarded the plea deal and threw the book at Pollard because he was angered that Pollard had spoken with the media.
“Pollard’s willingness to grant an interview to journalist Wolf Blitzer for The Jerusalem Post without obtaining advance approval of the resulting text from the Justice Department violated the terms of his plea bargain,” reads the CIA damage assessment.
The judge also was angered that Pollard’s then-wife Anne did an interview with the CBS
The information he leaked in the mid-’80s focused on Israel’s Arab neighbours, not on America’s own capabilities
show 60 Minutes. His current wife, Esther, and his attorneys have suggested that the interviews were approved by the government, and that the resulting confusion was part of a plot to disavow the plea deal.
In Israel, members of the Knesset from both the left and the right, who usually cannot agree on anything, have come together to call for Pollard’s release. “Israel accepted full responsibility for its actions and stopped spying on American territory, but all of the requests [to release Pollard] have not helped. I don’t know why the U.S. is acting this way,” said MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer of the socialist Labor party.
Over 175,000 people who have signed an online petition, as well as several prominent American figures — including former secretary of state Henry Kissinger and former CIA director James Woolsey — also have called for Pollard to be released.
Barack Obama so far has refused to budge on the issue, telling Israel’s Channel 2 that he has “no plans for releasing Jonathan Pollard immediately.” The U.S. President likely will wait until the end of his term before he grants a pardon — if he does so at all.
The Israelis already have granted Pollard citizenship, and promised to welcome him with open arms. Considering Pollard’s failing health and the disproportionate amount of time he already has served, Obama would be wise to reconsider his position.