Questioning John Kerry's Position on Pollard And Israel

Justice4JP Release - July 14, 2004

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's response to a question, from Jewish leaders in Florida during a recent conference call, raises serious questions.

When asked, "If you are elected president of the United States, will you finally free Jonathan Pollard?" Kerry responded that he knows nothing about the Pollard case, but that he is prepared to look into it.

Indeed! If Mr. Kerry knows nothing about the Pollard case then why did he sign a 1999 Senate letter condemning Jonathan Pollard and calling on then-President Bill Clinton not to release him?

The letter that Kerry signed, along with 59 of his Senate colleagues, was clearly designed as a piece of propaganda pandering to the Arabs. Generated by former CIA chief George Tenet in the aftermath of the Wye Summit, the letter continues to plague both Jonathan and Israel to this very day.

What is in the Senate letter that Kerry signed?

Among other things:

It completely mischaracterizes Jonathan's actions on behalf of Israel, rehashing all the old lies about the case as if they were fact, and leveling false accusations against Jonathan and Israel.
It presents a false version of what occurred at Wye, ignoring the fact that Jonathan's release was negotiated as an integral part of the Wye Accords.
It slanders Israel, portraying her as a manipulative foreign power pressuring the U.S. into doing something against its own interests. By signing, Kerry effectively endorses this malignant representation of the Jewish State.
It falsely claims that Jonathan's continued incarceration is necessary in order to deter other friendly nations from spying.

What puts the lie to the claim that Jonathan must remain in prison in order to deter other friendly countries from spying is this: Jonathan is the ONLY spy in U.S. history who has ever been treated so harshly!

Every "friendly" spy arrested AFTER Jonathan, including those who spied for Korea, Greece and Saudi Arabia, received short sentences or no jail time at all. They are all free men today. Even those who committed far more serious crimes by spying for enemies, including Clayton Lonetree, Richard Miller, and Michael Walker, received much lighter sentences than Jonathan. They too are free men today.

Only Jonathan Pollard, the Jew who spied for the Jewish State, remains in prison.

If indeed Mr. Kerry knows so little about this case - which Appeals Court Justice Steven Williams described as "a fundamental miscarriage of justice" - why did he sign the letter?

Justice4JP invites Mr. Kerry without delay to receive a briefing from Mr. Pollard's attorneys, Eliot Lauer and Jacques Semmelman. After which, Mr. Kerry is urged remove his name from this infamous document, which he signed in ignorance of the facts; and with full knowledge, to publicly clarify his position on Jonathan Pollard and the State of Israel.