The Anti-Defamation League’s national director, Abraham Foxman, criticized the continued imprisonment of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, calling it “on the verge of anti-Semitism.”
Foxman was quoted on the Pollard case in several Israeli news outlets on Tuesday, and echoed a statement he issued earlier this month.
Someone is trying to teach the American-Jewish community a loyalty lesson, Foxman asserted in an interview Tuesday with Israel’s Army Radio.
“That to me is on the verge of anti-Semitism,” he said.
In a Jan. 16 statement, Foxman said that when Pollard was sentenced in a plea bargain 28 years ago, many claimed that the sentence was anti-Semitic. An ADL investigation concluded, however, that there was no basis for such an accusation.
Still, Foxman said, the fact that Pollard remains in prison despite having spied for an ally shows that there is an “ongoing vendetta” against him.
The New York Jewish Week brings you the stories behind the headlines, keeping you connected to Jewish life in New York. Help sustain the reporting you trust by donating today.