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US/ISRAEL/UK - Writer raps US vice-president's remarks on freeing Israeli agent

Released on 2012-10-16 17:00 GMT

Email-ID 724271
Date 2011-10-04 19:38:05
Writer raps US vice-president's remarks on freeing Israeli agent

Text of report in English by privately-owned Israeli daily The Jerusalem
Post website on 3 October

[Commentary by Ben Kaspit, "courtesy of Ma'ariv": "Over Our Dead

Israelis are wondering what went through your mind, Mr Biden, when you
said Jonathan Pollard would be given clemency over your "dead body."

Up until several days ago, you, Mr Biden, were considered "Israel's
closest and truest friend in the White House." As such, we here in
Israel are wondering what exactly was going through your mind when you
declared that Jonathan Pollard would be given clemency over your "dead
body." It's important to us, here in Israel, to understand. To all of
us: to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's supporters and detractors, to
the far right and the far left, to the rich and the poor, the Ashkenazi
and the Sephardic.

Anyone with eyes in their head and hearts thumping in their chests would
like to know what led you to issue that unhinged statement. Are there
things that you know that the rest of the world does not? What has
changed since 2007, when you declared, in your own voice, that Jonathan
Pollard's bid for clemency was justified? I'll tell you what has
changed: Pollard has spent five more years in prison, in solitary
confinement; his health has worsened (I recommend you use your influence
to verify to what extent); his chances of starting a family have been
decimated; his father died and he was barred from accompanying him on
his final journey; and more and more respectable people have stepped
forward and declared that the time has come for his release.

That's what has changed.

Is it possible, Mr Biden, that you know something that James Woolsey,
former director of the CIA, and Dennis DeConcini, former chairman of the
US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, do not? Because the two of
them are both in favour of releasing him. Do you know something that
Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, or John McCain do not? All of them,
esteemed American patriots, are in favour of clemency. Do you know
something that the former US attorney-general Michael Mukasey does not?
Are you holding on to intelligence that Lawrence Korb, assistant defence
secretary under Casper Weinberger, was not privy to?

Korb was there, in real time, but Korb, an honest and decent man, felt
his conscience claw at him, and today he leads the call to free Pollard,
who next month will mark his 26th year in American prison.

On Wednesday, you, Mr Biden, will host a Rosh Hashanah party at your
residence for American Jewish leaders. You, as I said, are considered to
be our closest friend among President Barack Obama's inner circle. Now,
as the race towards the presidential elections picks up pace, you have
taken upon yourself to serve as the President's ambassador to the Jewish

I suggest that during the festive celebration at your residence, you ask
Abe Foxman, a man whose integrity cannot be called into question, or
Malcolm Hoenlein, one of the most astute watchers of American politics
and a man whose finger is always on the pulse of the American Jewish
community, why they support Pollard's urgent release.

Foremost, though, I ask that you examine your own conscience. Ask
yourself, Mr Biden, why Pollard has been in prison for 26 years for a
crime that generally receives a two-to-four year sentence in America.

Ask yourself why spies who have committed far graver sins, betrayals
that led to the killing of American agents on foreign soil, received far
lesser sentences. Ask yourself why it is that the blood libel of
attributing those murders to Pollard was circulated so widely. Ask
yourself why, once those allegations were proven to be false, his
sentence was not commuted. Ask yourself why the United States of
America, a society governed by law and order, did not honour its plea
bargain with Pollard. Ask yourself where the limits of human suffering
lie. Ask yourself about the nature of compassion.

What, in your eyes, are its dimensions?

Mr Biden, look at the list of honourable names, the American leaders and
officials who are calling for Pollard's release. All of them believe
that his continued incarceration is an outrage that flies in the face of
American justice.

In America, Mr Biden, you are regarded as the world's preeminent
superpower not only on account of your weapons and military might. You
are the leaders of the free world also on account of your values:
liberty, equality, human rights, justice and compassion. Where have
those morals gone, Mr Biden, when assessing Pollard's case? Are 26 years
behind bars, many of which have been served in solitary confinement, an
insufficient punishment for what remains a relatively minor crime? Does
a man who has expressed remorse and already paid a terrible price not
deserve to live out his days in freedom?

Until now, Mr Vice President, you have made a name for yourself as
someone with a quick tongue and a short fuse. No responsible parties
have charged you with being cruel, evil, or bloodthirsty. Henceforth, Mr
Biden, the notorious slips of your tongue are the least of your
problems. The message you conveyed to those rabbis in Florida, that if
it were up to you, Pollard would "stay in jail for life," put you in a
whole different league. A league that you don't want to be playing in
and one I don't believe you belong in.

We Jews, Mr Vice President, have begun the Ten Days of Repentance
leading up to the Day of Atonement. If what was said in Florida was
merely a slip of the tongue, this is the time, Mr Biden, to take it
back. We will forgive and we will forget. All of us make mistakes. It
can happen to the vice president, too. But if you really stand by the
statement that "over my dead body" will he be released, then it's
important to understand that the dead body is likely to be his. Jonathan
Pollard's release, after 26 years, is not a matter of politics,
diplomacy or national security. It should not be linked to current
events. We Israelis, along with many American Jews and other honourable
Americans, believe that Jonathan Pollard's release, in late 2011, is a
matter of morality, justice and compassion. Those values are at the
heart of President Obama's beliefs; they are also the very lifeblood of
the great American democracy and of humanity at large. And so, if
justice is to! be done, Joe Biden, help us make it happen now!

Source: The Jerusalem Post website, Jerusalem, in English 3 Oct 11

BBC Mon ME1 MEEauosc 041011 or

(c) Copyright British Broadcasting Corporation 2011