Conference of Presidents baffled by US refusal to release Jonathan Pollard
The Pollard issue has frequently been raised with the American authorities by both Israeli and American Jewish leaders, but to no avail.
By GREER FAY CASHMANJonathan and Esther Pollard outside the Manhattan Federal Courthouse in New York City(photo credit: REUTERS)
Members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations said they are baffled by the ongoing refusal of the US government to allow Jonathan Pollard to move to Israel.“It is brought up every time we go for a meeting to the White House,” Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice president of the organization, said at a media conference in Jerusalem on Sunday prior to the opening of the annual CoP conference at the Inbal Hotel. “We have been baffled by it for years.”Pollard, 65, is a former civilian defense analyst who was released from prison in November 2015, after serving 30 years of a life sentence for passing classified material to Israel, an ally of the US.Others who committed treason for passing classified material to enemies of the United States, served far less time and were permitted to leave the country.Pollard, who received Israeli citizenship in absentia, has said he would like nothing more than to spend his remaining years in Israel and to bring back his seriously ill wife, Esther, who left Israel to join him in America after he was paroled, but the Americans will not allow him to leave.The Pollard issue has frequently been raised with the American authorities by both Israeli and American Jewish leaders, but to no avail.In relation to the CoP visit to Saudi Arabia prior to coming to Israel, chairman Arthur Stark said the conference has been engaging with the Gulf states for a number of years and attributed the willingness of some of these states to engage with Israel due to their commonality of interests, most notably the threat from Iran.Aside from that, the younger generations in the Arab world are looking at the Internet and seeing what is happening in the world. Stark said they are saying to their leadership: “What about us?”“They see America and Israel as shining examples of what can be, and show signs of embracing innovation,” he said.
Listing Qatar, Morocco and Egypt as some of the countries in the region CoP has visited over the past 20 years, Hoenlein said: “It’s a long-term investment in building confidence and contributing to the region. We want to be responsible and constructive players.”
