Justice4JP's Position on Pollard & Camp David

Media Release - July 22, 2000

Justice4JP has no comment on the current negotiations at Camp David regarding the possible release of up to 1,800 Palestinian terrorists and murderers held by Israel. This is a matter solely for the government of Israel to determine. However, recent news reports indicate that the release of Jonathan Pollard is being linked to the release of these prisoners.

Historically, Jonathan Pollard's release has been "bought and paid for" several times over in Israeli concessions, not the least of which was the release of 750 Palestinian terrorists and murderers following the signing of the Wye Accords in 1998.

CIA chief George Tenet's alleged threat to resign if Pollard were freed at Wye could and should have been rejected out of hand. Executive clemency is the exclusive right of the president, as Mr. Clinton demonstrated a short time later when he freed 14 unrepentant Puerto Rican terrorists in spite of intense opposition from Tenet and others.

The recent release of the 1987 Eban Report shows how, from the inception of the case, the Americans violated their pledge to Israel not to use the documents Israel returned in prosecuting Pollard. Denied the constitutional right of a trial, and sentenced on the basis of secret information that he has never been allowed to challenge in a court of law, Pollard has been denied due process for the last 15 years.

Senator Schumer's recent assertion that he has seen the classified Pollard file and that there is nothing in it to justify the Draconian sentence he is serving, is sufficient grounds to set him free.

Moreover former Cabinet Secretary Dani Naveh has just stated (Baltimore Sun, July 14/00) that he was a witness to President Clinton's commitment to Prime Minister Netanyahu to free Jonathan Pollard as an integral part of the Wye Accords.

Mr. Clinton's track record on this matter does not inspire confidence. It is time for Mr. Clinton to make good on his original promise, instead of making yet another promise linked to yet another release of Palestinian security prisoners. This outstanding debt, owed to Israel since the signing of the Wye Accords, must be paid in full before Israel can rely on the word of President Clinton.

In light of the above, Justice4JP takes the position that there are compelling reasons, judicial and humanitarian, to free Jonathan Pollard now, without Israel having to "buy" his freedom yet again.