Don’t Release Jonathan Pollard

[mota bhai 2,675]

By Zachary Keck
April 02, 2014

Multiple news agencies are reporting that President Barack Obama is considering releasing Jonathan Pollard in an effort to jump-start peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians. This would be a major mistake that borders on betrayal.

Pollard is a former civilian U.S. Navy intelligence officer that sold tons of classified intelligence to Israel during the Cold War before being arrested in November 1985. He pleaded guilty to spying for Israel and was given a life sentence in prison.

...

One of the major reasons being given for why Pollard should not be released is it would ... be a slap in the face to the overwhelming majority of U.S. intelligence officers and other national security officials who are not contemplating leaking classified information. These individuals work tirelessly to protect the United States and Edward Snowden’s treason has already been highly demoralizing to honest national security professionals in the United States. To pardon Pollard so soon after Snowden’s case surfaced would be the ultimate insult to these individuals.

Another reason that Pollard shouldn’t be released is the fact that he is simply guilty of the crime and has been properly punished for it. Many of Pollard’s supporters in Israel and the United States have argued that he is being punished too harshly given that Israel is a strong U.S. ally and Pollard was simply trying to help Tel Aviv protect itself.

This is absurd and completely disingenuous. To begin with, the fact that Pollard sold the information to Israel is in some ways more concerning if only because the U.S. already shares substantial amounts of intelligence with Israel. Thus, we know that all of the immense amounts of classified intelligence Pollard sold to Israel was of the highly classified nature because it wasn’t already being shared with Tel Aviv.

Furthermore, by nearly all accounts, much of the intelligence Pollard sold didn’t concern Israel’s security at all. Instead, it was about U.S. capabilities in general or it’s spying operations against other countries, including the Soviet Union. To make matters worse, some suggest Israel gave this information to Moscow in exchange for Russia allowing Soviet Jews to immigrate to Israel.

...

He sold classified information to Israel for tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most believe he offered to sell intelligence to four other countries as well. As a former intelligence officer involved in the damage assessment following Pollard’s arrest told Foreign Policy this week, “It was all about money, and he put most of it up his nose. He was known in Washington as the ‘candy man’ for God’s sake.”

Thus, far from trying to protect Israel’s security—which, if that was his goal, he could have done in many other ways such as moving to Israel and joining the Israeli Defense Forces—Pollard was selling his country’s national security to finance his drug habit. The U.S. locks people up for drugs for longer than Pollard has been in prison even if their habits don’t put the entire country in jeopardy.

http://thediplomat.com/2014/04/dont-release-jonathan-pollard/

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

No no no no no.

[Novembro 1,763]

Absolutely not.

[mota bhai 2,675]

VJ consensus? Only 5 respondents, but still.

[LibCampFireClub 635]

What's most interesting is why John Kerry is suggesting releasing this pathetic spy as a bargaining chip to get the Israelis to make concessions to the Palestinians?

[JohnR! 5,495]

Absof***inglutely NOT.

[mota bhai 2,675]

What's most interesting is why John Kerry is suggesting releasing this pathetic spy as a bargaining chip to get the Israelis to make concessions to the Palestinians?

Kerry is delusional.