http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?id=37752&mador=1&datee=1/10/99
Ha'aretz, January 10, 1999
Leading Jews to ask Clinton to free Pollard
Move aimed at counterbalancing CIA
position against releasing convicted
spy
By Nitzan Horowitz, Ha'aretz Correspondent and
Reuters
WASHINGTON - Three leading U.S. Jewish figures
plan to ask President Bill Clinton to delay any
decision on clemency for the convicted spy
Jonathan Pollard until they can personally state
the case for releasing him, a Jewish leader said
Friday.
The president's decision on clemency is expected
in the near future, after a comprehensive
examination of the issue is completed by the
administration. Deliberations surrounding the
issue are scheduled to end tomorrow, with
conflicting speculation about the president's
decision.
The intervention by the Jewish leaders is aimed
at counterbalancing opposition to a Pollard
release by U.S. security professionals, including
CIA Director George Tenet, and congressional
Republicans, who say his release would encourage
the enemies of the United States.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, World
Jewish Congress President Edgar Bronfman and
Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz
are preparing a letter to the White House asking
for a meeting, Elan Steinberg, executive director
of the World Jewish Congress, said.
"Our hope is that the president, more than anyone
else, knows the value of mercy," Steinberg said,
referring to the Monica Lewinsky affair. "What
Jonathan Pollard did was utterly contemptible,
but this delegation will appeal for his release
on strictly humanitarian grounds, essentially
asking only for mercy," Steinberg said.
Israeli officials also told Ha'aretz that the
issue was now a humanitarian one, and that after
the blow-up at the Wye Plantation, Israel wished
to maintain a low profile in the handling of the
affair.
"A consensus has emerged in the organized Jewish
community of absolute condemnation of Pollard's
crimes while asking for his release on strictly
humanitarian grounds following more than a dozen
years of imprisonment. I think everyone will
agree that nearly 15 years of being jailed,
including solitary confinement, constitutes
deterrence," Steinberg said.
Clinton promised to review Pollard's case in
October during the closing negotiations at the
Wye Plantation in Maryland for a U.S.-brokered
interim peace deal between Israel and the
Palestinians.
The promise came after a surprise demand by
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that
Pollard's release be included in the deal.
Clinton in December asked the heads of the
Justice, State and Defense departments and the
CIA to report to him on the case.
This led to strenuous opposition to releasing the
convicted spy. Seven former defense secretaries
wrote the president a letter urging him not to
release Pollard and two senior members of the
Senate Intelligence Committee, the Republican
chairman, Richard Shelby, and the senior
Democratic representative, Bob Kerrey, appealed
to senators to increase the pressure on the
president to leave Pollard in jail.
Shelby said releasing Pollard would be a
dangerous and unwise precedent that would signal
that crimes against the United States are not
serious. He added that releasing Pollard would
undermine the United States' ability to function
as an honest broker around the world.
In response to Pollard's claim the material he
gave the Israelis had been improperly denied to
the U.S. ally, former senior intelligence
officials said Pollard tried to transfer
classified information to other countries before
he made the deal with Israel. Justice Department
officials also said that Pollard never fully
cooperated with the Americans in their effort to
estimate what secrets had been transfered to
Israel.
Clinton has already started to receive reports
from senior administration and intelligence
officials. Official spokesmen refuse to supply
any details about these reports, but sources say
they are very negative. The White House
emphasizes that there is no definite timetable
for Clinton's decision regarding Pollard.
(c) copyright 1998 Ha'aretz. All Rights Reserved
