Report: Governments worked for Pollard’s release

September 7, 2009

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- A special report released in Israel says that convicted spy Jonathan Pollard did not receive due process in America and that successive Israeli governments worked for his release.

State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss in his report found that "Pollard's release from prison in America was always a consideration of the Israeli government leaders, and their actions and the policies they followed were continuous and consistent during their terms of office."

The report looked at the governments of Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert during the 24 years that Pollard has been in prison in the United States for spying on behalf of Israel.

"The subject was raised in their meetings and discussions with the presidents of the U.S.," according to the report, which noted the fierce opposition to Pollard's release in U.S. intelligence on national security grounds.

The report chastised the governments for not recording or documenting the content of the meetings, calling it "a significant failing."

Lindenstrauss, a retired judge, was asked six months ago to prepare the report. Only three of its 30 pages were published due to Israeli national security concerns.

His report also said that Israel should press Washington to agree to a new trial for Pollard on the grounds that he did not receive due process in his first trial.

Supporters of Pollard, who was granted Israeli citizenship in 1995 and recognized by the government as an Israeli agent in 1998, rejected the comptroller's findings.

"Jonathan says that it is a complete whitewash," his wife, Esther, told Arutz-7 on Monday. "It is an attempt by one branch of the government to give a fraudulent stamp of approval to another branch; to whitewash the betrayal and abandonment of an Israeli agent in peril by successive governments of Israel."

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Report: Governments worked for Pollard’s release

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