Via Attorney, Pollard Challenges Israel Govt. Lies Re Support

Justice4JP Release - February 18, 2008

For

23 years

[Translated from Hebrew to English by Justice4JP]

February 13, 2008

To: Attorney Shulamit Barnea Fargo,
Legal Counsel
Prime Minister's Office
Rechov Kaplan 3
Jerusalem 91919

Via Fax - 02-561-0618
& Registered Mail

Dear Counsel,

RE:

Support by Government of Israel of Jonathan Pollard and his close associates

In response to your letter as referenced above, my client, Mr. Jonathan Pollard, has instructed me to respond as follows:

1. Your letter as referenced, was relayed to my client, word for word. Upon reading its contents, my client was deeply incensed and utterly dismayed, not only because of the many instances of evasive secrecy, but also because even that which was openly stated was riddled with blatant lies which do damage beyond description to my client.

2. False statements, like the ones detailed below, appearing either in your letter as referenced above or in statements by Mrs. Ruti Abramovitch, the Prime Minister's Advisor for Public Relations, which declare that "assistance in every possible respect" is provided to my client and/or to his wife, have legal implications which impact upon their lives and are liable to create a much more difficult situation for them that which they are currently experiencing.

3. As mentioned in my letter referenced above, my client is now serving his 23rd year of an unprecedented life sentence in an American Federal Prison. As an Israeli agent in captivity, my client is in a very vulnerable and delicate position. In light of this, false statements such as these - claiming that my client receives from the Government of Israel assistance of one sort or another, without the knowledge or permission of the US Bureau of Prisons - could place my client in an even more vulnerable position and may even result in serious punitive action being taken against him by the prison authorities, including the possibility of being charged and fined, and the cancellation of the very few rights and privileges he retains in prison.

4. Moreover, your false statement which claims that that the State of Israel, "has made available resources to assist in taking care of the needs of his wife, Mrs. Esther Pollard," is liable to cause much damage to Mrs. Pollard. Mrs. Pollard is also a Canadian citizen and is required according to the law in Canada (and in Israel) to report any and all gifts and/or benefits which she receives. Untrue declarations on the part of the State of Israel, such as these, which suggest that she receives assistance of one kind or another from the State of Israel put Mrs. Pollard in a difficult position with the authorities in Canada and in Israel, and do damage to her good name.

5. In light of the above, you owe it to my client and his wife to respond to them, specifically and in detail, to the initial inquiry which was relayed to you, and this time to support your alleged claims of assistance to my client with full documentation, for all claims, as detailed below.

   Monetary Support

6. My letter referenced above, demanded inter alia, a clear and specific response to the question of whether my client ever received material assistance from the State of Israel. This question remains unanswered and buried in a heap of verbiage.

7. For this reason, I am once again repeating the question in a way that does not lend itself to equivocation:

   Did my client and/or his wife, Mrs. Esther Pollard, ever receive monetary assistance from the government of Israel?

8. In the event that your response to this question is negative, I am requesting that you respond in writing specifying that

   throughout the 23 years that my client has been in prison in America, neither my client nor his wife, Mrs. Esther Pollard, has ever received any monetary support whatsoever from the Government of Israel.

   In the event that your response to this question is positive, I request that you clarify, specifically and accurately, by responding to the following related items:

   1. On what date or dates did my client and/or his wife receive monetary assistance from the Government of Israel?
   2. What is the title and position of the official who provided the alleged monetary assistance?
   3. Do you have confirmation in writing of the alleged monetary assistance or receipts signed by my client and/or his wife confirming that they received the money?
   4. What is the financial institution to which the monetary assistance was transferred?
   5. In the absence of any record whatsoever of any funds having been transferred to my client, I would like to receive additional clarification as to how it is you managed to transfer and/or continue to transfer monetary assistance from the Government of Israel to my client, an inmate in an American prison.

9. What is more, since it is the case that the Government of Israel has never taken responsibility for the fate of my client and has never officially informed the American authorities that my client is an Israeli agent who worked under its auspices and on its behalf; according to [American] law the State of Israel does not have legal standing to assist my client in prison or to substantially change or improve his conditions in prison. Given that this is so, kindly clarify specifically and in detail, what exactly the Government of Israel meant by saying that it is assisting my client in prison.

10. According to a declaration in your letter as referenced," The Israeli consular team in Atlanta handles the requests of Mr. Pollard and his wife on an on-going basis and maintains constant contact with them." The only assistance that the Israeli consular team has ever provided or is able to provide is with regard to arranging consular visits, and even this is for the benefit of the State of Israel to keep an eye on prison visits to my client. In light of the foregoing, kindly clarify what you meant in your letter by stressing that the Israeli consular team takes care of the requests of my client and his wife (other than consular visits) and kindly clarify as well, which of their specific requests have been fulfilled by the Israeli consular team.

    Assistance to "close associates" of Jonathan Pollard

11. In your letter it is indicated that, "Throughout the years the Government of Israel has done and continues to do for Jonathan Pollard and his close associates." If this statement is true, I would ask you to clarify, specifically and precisely, the following details:
    1. What are the criteria which the Government of Israel uses to determine who is a "close associate" of Jonathan Pollard and thus deserving of assistance?
    2. What are the names and occupations of those "close associates of Jonathan Pollard" who have allegedly been assisted "throughout the years" by the Government of Israel and what is their relationship to my client?
    3. What kind of assistance is being provided to the "close associates" of my client?
    4. When and how did the "close associates" of my client receive the alleged assistance?
    5. Please provide documented proof that such assistance was duly received.

    Allocation of resources to Jonathan Pollard and his wife

12. In the absence of any monetary assistance and/or material assistance to my client - my client has never received a single cent from the State of Israel - I would ask that you clarify your statement which reads, "The State of Israel has allotted resources to take care of the personal needs of Mr. Pollard" by responding specifically and in detail to the following:
    1. What specific "resources" is the State of Israel allegedly supplying to my client?
    2. When and how did my client receive the alleged resources?
    3. Please provide signed receipts and/or written confirmation showing that alleged resources were provided and that they were received by my client.
    4. What is the name and title of the official responsible for providing the alleged resources to my client for "his personal needs"?

13. Additionally, in the same section of your letter you indicated that the Government of Israel " has allotted resources to take care of the personal needs of his present wife, Mrs. Esther Pollard". This statement as well, is obviously not true. The State of Israel, in all the years that my client has been in prison in America, has never given Mrs. Pollard any assistance, nor provided for her personal needs as your letter claims. Therefore, in this case as well, I would ask you to clarify, specifically and in detail, by responding to the following items:
    1. What specific "resources" is the State of Israel allegedly supplying to Mrs. Pollard?
    2. When and how did Mrs. Pollard receive the alleged resources?
    3. Please provide signed receipts and/or written confirmation showing that alleged resources were provided and that they were received by Mrs. Pollard.
    4. What is the name and title of the official responsible for providing the alleged resources to Mrs. Pollard for "her personal needs"?

    Assistance in arranging the legal status of Mrs. Pollard

14. In your letter you indicated that, "Only recently help was given to Mrs. Esther Pollard to arrange her legal status in Israel for the purpose of receiving medical care and in arranging her dealings with Bituach Leumi (Israel's National Insurance)." This false declaration also does not stand up to the test of reality. The legal status of Mrs. Pollard in Israel was arranged when she acted, like every one else, according to the letter of the law, and filled out the necessary application forms. The legal status of Mrs. Pollard was arranged without any favors or any help from the State of Israel. Mrs. Pollard herself arranged her affairs with Bituach Leumi and Kupat Cholim (Health Care) by making the monthly payments out of her own pocket and without assistance from the State of Israel. Similarly she has personally funded her private follow-up treatment as a cancer survivor.

15. Consequently your claim that she was given assistance "beyond the letter of the law, and for humanitarian reasons" is an obvious distortion of the facts which requires explanation. The only explanation Mrs. Pollard could imagine was that perhaps you were referring to the officials at the Ministry of the Interior who absolved Mrs. Pollard from having to wait in line. If this is so, and this is indeed what you meant, then with all due respect, the cynicism reflected by your statement is beyond the pale.

16. If, however, you meant some other way in which the State of Israel assisted Mrs. Pollard I would ask, once again, that you clarify in a detailed and specific manner by responding to the following items:
    1. What help has been given to Mrs. Pollard since she has been married to my client?
    2. How and when did Mrs. Pollard receive this help?
    3. What is the name and title of the official who provided Mrs. Pollard with this help?

    The inclusion of Ms. Ann Henderson as an example of assistance to Jonathan Pollard.

17. My client, with deep dismay and shock, adamantly rejects your cynical inclusion of Ann Henderson Pollard, my client's ex-wife, as an example, supposedly, of assistance given to my client by the State of Israel.

18. Ms Henderson served her sentence in an American prison because of the State of Israel, and as such her account with the State of Israel is separate and apart from that of my client. Ms. Henderson ended her relationship with my client immediately upon the completion of her sentence in an American prison - and that was approximately 20 years ago. Therefore, it is beyond my client's understanding how you have the effrontery to cite assistance that was given to Ms. Henderson - if indeed any was given - and attach it to the issue under discussion as part of the assistance being given to my client.

    Statements by the State of Israel regarding its efforts to free Jonathan Pollard.

19. In conclusion, it is impossible to ignore that which is most damaging of all - statements by the State of Israel which declare over and over again, as in your letter, that the State of Israel is making tremendous efforts to free Jonathan Pollard. These statements do not comport with reality and are simply not credible.

20. As long as the State of Israel does not officially admit that the espionage Mr. Pollard was involved in was an official operation of the State of Israel; and as long as the State of Israel does not officially apologize to the United States for this operation, all the endlessly repeated declarations that the State of Israel is trying and doing all it can to free my client are little more than dust in the wind.

21. The persistent refusal of the State of Israel to make these statements officially [i.e. that my client was a bona fide agent, and to offer an official apology to the US], or at very least to declare my client a Prisoner of Zion in order to ease his suffering and lessen his affliction in prison, testifies more eloquently than a thousand witnesses to the insincerity of the government's protestations of its efforts to free Jonathan Pollard. My client served the State of Israel faithfully and has paid for it with 23 years of his life. With all due respect, this is not the way a State, which is obliged to rescue her agent from captivity, behaves.

22. Since we are dealing with capital offences law, I ask you to regard your response to this letter with the greatest of urgency.

With great respect,
(signed)

Nitsana Darshan - Leitner

Copies to:
Mr. Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister
Mr. Oved Yechezkiel, Cabinet Secretary
Judge Micha Lindenstrauss, State Comptroller
MK Zevulun Orlev, Head of the Knesset State Control Committee

See Also:

1. Hebrew Text: Via Attorney, Pollard Challenges Israel Govt. Lies - J4JP Release:

   PDF – Word

2. Legal Doc: Original Letter [Hebrew]: Pollard Atty. Nitsana Darshan-Leitner Responds to Govt. Lies - Feb. 13, 2008:

   PDF – Word

3. Legal Doc [Hebrew]: Prime Minister's Office Response re: Support for Pollard - Jan. 21, 2008

4. Legal Doc [English Translation]: Prime Minister's Office Response re: Support for Pollard - Jan. 21, 2008

5. Legal Doc: [Hebrew]: Pollard Attorney Demands Govt. Clarify Statements on Support for Pollard - Oct. 29, 2007:

   PDF – Word

6. Attachment [Hebrew] to Legal Doc. - Oct. 29, 2007
   Sample of Govt. form letter disseminating lies about support for Pollard