Director General of Foreign Ministry: We never did anything for Pollard

By Ben Caspit – Maariv [Mussaf-Shabbat] – November 19, 2010

Israel never came to Pollard’s rescue

Translated to English by J4JP [May be reprinted with full attribution to
author and venue]

Last week a public/media campaign was launched here for the release of
Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard. This coming Sunday, Jonathan will
“celebrate” 25 years in an American prison - an indescribably harsh
punishment: cruel, grossly disproportionate, and unjust.

The information that has come to light in recent weeks proves once again,
beyond any doubt, that Pollard was locked away for things he did not do.
They fabricated false charges against him. Yes, he did sin and offend and
had to be punished, but if we compare the sentence he received (an unlimited
life sentence with no end in sight at this time) to the sentences others
received for similar offenses, the enormity of the travesty of justice is
apparent.

Against this backdrop, a discussion took place this week about the Pollard
case, on the Television program “Politica” on Channel One. Invited to
participate were: MK Nachman Shai (who said courageous and constructive
things); Yitzhak Oren, who was the Israeli Congressional liaison in
Washington and the first Israeli official to visit Pollard; and the former
Director of the Foreign Ministry, Alon Liel.

On the air, Liel said some shocking things: “In my eyes, Pollard is no hero.
When Pollard lands here, I am not going to Ben Gurion Airport to greet him.
Just a minute ago someone mentioned how the US relates to traitors. How do
we relate to traitors? After all he betrayed the United States, our best
friend. I served as an Israeli official for 30 years. What Pollard did was
not a heroic deed in my eyes.”

The moderator, Oded Shachar, tried to explain to Liel that it was Israel
that requested and received the information from Pollard. But Liel
persevered: “First of all, whether or not that is so, is also subject to
debate. I served for 30 years in the Israeli Foreign Ministry in the United
States, and indeed in all the years that I worked in Chicago (where Pollard
was first held) and then in Atlanta (near where Pollard is now held) we
never made any effort to free him, and we were right not to. Today it is
already another matter since he has been in prison for so many years.”

Incredible to hear such things! I picked up the phone and called Liel this
week, but he just continued his tirade. Pollard, Liel told me, is a traitor
in the same league as Vanunu. “When I was an Israeli consul in the United
States, the policy was, we do not visit Pollard, we do not have anything to
do with him, and if anyone ever mentions him, we must silence them and calm
things down, lest it harm the Jewish community. Pollard betrayed his
employers. I was an official for 30 years. How am I supposed to feel towards
someone who took the most sensitive documents and gave them, for money, to
someone else?”

Liel was, as has been pointed out, the Director General of the Israeli
Foreign Ministry. Was he also the Director General of the American Foreign
Ministry? Pollard endangered his life to pass (pass, not sell) information
he saw as vital to “someone else”. That “someone else” was us. For this, he
is now paying an exorbitant price.

Liel’s bitter comments contain no small amount of unwarranted evil, but
other than that, they prove beyond a shadow of a doubt what was written in
this column last week: the State of Israel never really came to the rescue
of Jonathan Pollard.

To the credit of the first Netanyahu government in 1998, Pollard was
officially recognized as an Israeli agent. Period. There is no argument
about this fact, nor can there be. But this did not change things much for
Liel (or the rest of the Foreign Ministry staff). It is true that he was a
consul before this recognition was granted and he did not go to visit
Pollard, because that was the policy at the time. But in the years 1999 to
2001, after Pollard was granted official recognition, Liel was the Director
General of the Foreign Ministry under Ehud Barak. Did someone forget to
update Liel? He says,“Even when I was the Director General of the Foreign
Ministry, I do not recall a single time when the issue of Pollard was
raised. There was never any discussion of Pollard raised at the level of the
Director General.”

So now it is perfectly clear. Liel was the superior of the Deputy General
Manager of the Foreign Ministry for North America, the one who held
responsibility for the Pollard file for the Government of Israel all of
these years. And as the chief of staff, Liel admits that nothing was ever
done to secure Pollard’s release. Indeed, quite the opposite!

Today top American officials say that Pollard has served far too long in
prison, that the charges against him were fabricated, and that he should be
released at once. But this means nothing to Liel. When Pollard arrives, Liel
won’t go to the airport to welcome him. After all, says Liel, he’s a
traitor.

Let’s leave Liel, for the moment. The issue is bigger and more important
than he is. The Pollard campaign has to be country-wide. For all to
participate. Not just one newspaper or another. Guaranteed: if the entire
country, from the smallest of the deputy general managers of the foreign
ministry to the Prime Minister, to the Mossad, to the Israeli public at
large, believe that this abomination must end after 25 excruciating years,
then it will happen. Pollard will be released.

We need to promise in advance that Pollard will not become a national hero.
As far as I am concerned, he can promise not to interview for the next 10
years -- let him live in peace and work at putting his life back together.
And we won’t make a huge public reception for him, nor hold a celebration to
welcome him home at Ben Gurion Airport. And we won’t even invite Alon Liel.

Just let him be released already.