Former U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary: Jonathan Pollard Must Be Freed Now

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pollardThe United States must free Jonathan Pollard immediately, the former American deputy defense secretary at the time of Pollard’s arrest told Army Radio today. Pollard, a former civilian intelligence analyst, was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 on charges of spying on the U.S. for Israel.Lawrence Korb said that Pollard should be freed since his punishment was too severe relative to the felonies he committed.

Korb pointed out that Pollard has been sitting in prison longer than any other person who has been charged with spying for a friendly country on the U.S.

The reason for Pollard’s severe punishment, Korb explained in a piece written for the Los Angeles Times, was due to a letter that the U.S. Secretary of Defense at the time gave to the court directly before Pollard’s sentencing.

In the letter, Secretary of Defense Caspar Willard Weinberger detailed the damage that Pollard caused to the national security of the U.S., including an apparent connection with the exposure and subsequent killing of 11 American agents in the former USSR. According to Korb, the letter demanded that Pollard be severely punished. In Korb’s article, he says the thinking that any of Pollard’s information had reached the USSR has been debunked.

Another reason that Korb cited in his article was the refusal on the side of the Israeli government to acknowledge that Pollard was indeed one of their agents.

Last month, several U.S. congressmen signed a petition calling on President Obama to pardon Jonathan Pollard in order to advance the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

A statement released by Democratic Representative Barney Frank “notes the positive impact that a grant of clemency would have in Israel, as a strong indication of the goodwill of our nation towards Israel and the Israeli people.”

The petition in support of Pollard’s release will circulate until mid-October, when it will be sent to the U.S. president, the statement released by Frank’s office said.

{Haaretz/Matzav.com Newscenter}


8 COMMENTS

  1. Dear Mr. Korb. Why didn’t you speak up when you were in power and could accomplish something. Who cares what your opinion is on Matzav. Now it won’t help twittlededums.

    You were a Deputy Defense Minister and could have accomplished very much at that time. Now you are a regular citizen with an opinion that has the value of John Q Citizen on 13th Avenue

  2. If this is really true (the point about the letter) than it changes many people’s vuew about Jonathan and certainly mine, as I had always thought that he indeed knew something that was a threat to national security and therefore couldn’t be released with all the goodwill in the world.

  3. Spying is TREASON! In my book it should be punishable by death! BTW: I’m a Jew, but an American first. Let the man rot in prison!
    There should be no apologies of any kind. Israel herself should realize spying against one’s country is one of the worse crimes one can commit and the fact that it was for an ally is no excuse.

  4. Dear Joetote,
    You do not know anything about this case, if you really think that Jonathan Pollard should get the death penalty(or life in prison). In MY book, Jonathan Pollard is a hero and I hope one day soon he will be out of prison.

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