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‘Americans suspect Jonathan Pollard was not alone,’
says ex-Israeli envoy to the US
Comments about the convicted spy by former Israeli and Pakistani ambassadors are complicating Shimon Peres’ special mission in Washington
By Ari Ben Goldberg June 12, 2012, 5:56 am
Israeli President Shimon Peres arriving in Washington, DC, where he will be awarded
the US Presidential Medal of Freedom (photo credit: Courtesy Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
Two headline-generating interviews from former ambassadors to Washington – one Israeli, one Pakistani – are hovering over Israeli President Shimon Peres’ bid to ask President Obama for the release of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard during his weeklong trip to Washington.
In an interview with Israeli public radio, former Israeli Ambassador to the US Itamar Rabinovich claimed the Americans did not believe Pollard was acting alone when he passed classified US defense documents to Israel between 1984 and 1985.
When asked whether there were other Israeli spies in the US, the former envoy to Washington said, “I fear so.” He added that, to his knowledge, Israel has not come entirely clean about the details of the Pollard affair.
Rabinovich tried to back off some of the comments in an email to AFP after the interview, claiming that his remarks were “misunderstood” and that the phrase, “I fear so,” was in response to his concern that Israel’s enemies would spread the rumor that the Jewish state had additional spies on US soil.
Another twist in the Pollard story came during a CBS News interview in which former Pakistani Ambassador to the US Dr. Maleeha Lodhi accused the Americans of hypocrisy for condemning the 33-year sentence handed out to a Pakistani citizen who helped the CIA locate Osama bin Laden.
“How can the country that is holding Jonathan Pollard in prison for close to 30 years claim that we do not have the right to judge a spy in our own country as we see fit?” she said. “The country that put Jonathan Pollard away for spying for its close ally, Israel, should understand that other countries, too, punish those who spy for an erstwhile ally.”
Peres is in Washington for a ceremony at the White House on Wednesday in which President Obama will present the elder statesman with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s most prestigious civilian honor.
Soon after his arrival in Washington on Monday, Peres said he intends to raise the issue of a pardon for Pollard “on humanitarian grounds” in a private meeting with the president. He said that, as a president himself, he understands the complexities of issuing pardons and would not speculate on how Obama would react to the plea.
Jonathan Pollard in May 1998. (photo credit: AP/ Karl DeBlaker, File)
Those invited to the White House ceremony include former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, who have publicly come out in favor of Pollard’s release.
Pollard is a former US Navy analyst who has served 25 years of a life sentence in a North Carolina prison for spying on behalf of Israel. He is in ill health and has been hospitalized a number of times in the past year. Pollard was granted Israeli citizenship in 1995. Three years later, the Israeli government publicly acknowledged that he had indeed spied on the US.
Israeli youth demonstrate for Pollard's release in front of the US consulate, last summer (photo credit: Nati Shohat/Flash90)
Peres has with him a petition signed by 70,000 Israelis calling for Pollard’s release. Among the signatories is a cross-section of A-list Israeli politicians, activists, and artists including Gilad Shalit, Amos Oz, AB Yehoshua, David Grossman, former Israeli President Yitzhak Navon, and Nobel Prize laureates Aaron Ciechanover and Dan Shechtman.
says ex-Israeli envoy to the US
Comments about the convicted spy by former Israeli and Pakistani ambassadors are complicating Shimon Peres’ special mission in Washington
By Ari Ben Goldberg June 12, 2012, 5:56 am
Israeli President Shimon Peres arriving in Washington, DC, where he will be awarded
the US Presidential Medal of Freedom (photo credit: Courtesy Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
Two headline-generating interviews from former ambassadors to Washington – one Israeli, one Pakistani – are hovering over Israeli President Shimon Peres’ bid to ask President Obama for the release of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard during his weeklong trip to Washington.
In an interview with Israeli public radio, former Israeli Ambassador to the US Itamar Rabinovich claimed the Americans did not believe Pollard was acting alone when he passed classified US defense documents to Israel between 1984 and 1985.
‘The Americans suspect that Jonathan Pollard was not alone, that there were other Pollards and that Israel, despite all its promises, did not reveal all its cards’
“The Americans suspect that Jonathan Pollard was not alone, that there were other Pollards and that Israel, despite all its promises, did not reveal all its cards,” he said. “They (punished) Israel on the back of Pollard and expressed their anger more with Israel than with Pollard.”
When asked whether there were other Israeli spies in the US, the former envoy to Washington said, “I fear so.” He added that, to his knowledge, Israel has not come entirely clean about the details of the Pollard affair.
Rabinovich tried to back off some of the comments in an email to AFP after the interview, claiming that his remarks were “misunderstood” and that the phrase, “I fear so,” was in response to his concern that Israel’s enemies would spread the rumor that the Jewish state had additional spies on US soil.
Another twist in the Pollard story came during a CBS News interview in which former Pakistani Ambassador to the US Dr. Maleeha Lodhi accused the Americans of hypocrisy for condemning the 33-year sentence handed out to a Pakistani citizen who helped the CIA locate Osama bin Laden.
“How can the country that is holding Jonathan Pollard in prison for close to 30 years claim that we do not have the right to judge a spy in our own country as we see fit?” she said. “The country that put Jonathan Pollard away for spying for its close ally, Israel, should understand that other countries, too, punish those who spy for an erstwhile ally.”
Peres is in Washington for a ceremony at the White House on Wednesday in which President Obama will present the elder statesman with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s most prestigious civilian honor.
Soon after his arrival in Washington on Monday, Peres said he intends to raise the issue of a pardon for Pollard “on humanitarian grounds” in a private meeting with the president. He said that, as a president himself, he understands the complexities of issuing pardons and would not speculate on how Obama would react to the plea.
Jonathan Pollard in May 1998. (photo credit: AP/ Karl DeBlaker, File)Those invited to the White House ceremony include former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, who have publicly come out in favor of Pollard’s release.
Pollard is a former US Navy analyst who has served 25 years of a life sentence in a North Carolina prison for spying on behalf of Israel. He is in ill health and has been hospitalized a number of times in the past year. Pollard was granted Israeli citizenship in 1995. Three years later, the Israeli government publicly acknowledged that he had indeed spied on the US.
Israeli youth demonstrate for Pollard's release in front of the US consulate, last summer (photo credit: Nati Shohat/Flash90)Peres has with him a petition signed by 70,000 Israelis calling for Pollard’s release. Among the signatories is a cross-section of A-list Israeli politicians, activists, and artists including Gilad Shalit, Amos Oz, AB Yehoshua, David Grossman, former Israeli President Yitzhak Navon, and Nobel Prize laureates Aaron Ciechanover and Dan Shechtman.
