Pollard In Ill Health
Arutz7 - July 18, 1999
Jonathan Pollard's health is deteriorating. Serving a life sentence in a Butner, North Carolina prison for spying on behalf of Israel, Pollard was taken last week to Duke University Medical Center for a CAT-Scan.
Shackled in chains, Pollard was transported in a convoy of three armed vehicles, accompanied by eleven Special Operations guards in full combat gear. Pollard continues to suffer from extreme physical symptoms related to unbiopsied growths in his sinus cavities, and complains of nausea, dizziness, and blinding headaches.
In an interview with Arutz-7's Ron Meir last Thursday night, Pollard's wife Esther said that she was "disappointed and heartbroken that we have not had contact with the Barak government. We are hoping that this is a forgivable lapse, but we are flying in the dark at this point - and that is not fair after 14 years of incarceration on behalf of the State of Israel."
Mrs. Pollard also confirmed Binyamin Netanyahu's claim that in the hours preceding the signing of the Wye Accord, President Clinton executed a "double-cross" when he suddenly backed down on his explicit commitment to free Pollard in exchange for Netanyahu's signature on the Wye Accord. "Mr. Netanyahu's account is 100% correct," she said. "We were able to verify it at the time, and not just from the Israeli side, but from both sides of the table."
Meanwhile, Middle East News Line (MENL) reported on Friday that President Clinton "seems to have dismissed the effort of Prime Minister Ehud Barak" to win Pollard's release. White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said that the President has commissioned a panel* to examine the Pollard case, and that it is still deliberating. Lockhart said that the panel had collected information, but that "no final recommendation has been forwarded to the President, [nor do I ] expect that recommendation to be forwarded in the near future." MENL also reported that Barak will not seek Pollard's release, but rather a commitment from Clinton to reduce Pollard's sentence - which the Justice for Jonathan Pollard organization explains is likely to mean P.R. victories for Barak and Clinton and many more years in prison for Jonathan.
*JUSTICE FOR JONATHAN POLLARD NOTE:
Regarding the President's so-called panel to decide the Pollard case referenced in the MENL article cited above: the President never appointed a panel and didn't have one until White House spokesman Joe Lockhart pulled one out of a hat yesterday. This last-minute invention of a mysterious panel gives the President cover to keep the wheels of this case spinning without resolution for as long as he needs to in order to fulfill political objectives.
See Media Release July 17, 1999 "White House Bag of Tricks" for more information.