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| Talk of Freeing Spy for Israel Divides Jews in U.S. | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| WASHINGTON — Each year, just before Passover, Malcolm Hoenlein writes a letter to President Obama, requesting that he grant clemency to Jonathan J. Pollard, the American sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for passing suitcases stuffed with classified documents to Israel. | WASHINGTON — Each year, just before Passover, Malcolm Hoenlein writes a letter to President Obama, requesting that he grant clemency to Jonathan J. Pollard, the American sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for passing suitcases stuffed with classified documents to Israel. |
| This week, with his goal suddenly within reach, Mr. Hoenlein, the leader of an umbrella group of American Jewish organizations, has held off on sending the letter. He is waiting to see whether Mr. Obama will release Mr. Pollard as part of a prisoner exchange with Israel that would extend peace negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. | This week, with his goal suddenly within reach, Mr. Hoenlein, the leader of an umbrella group of American Jewish organizations, has held off on sending the letter. He is waiting to see whether Mr. Obama will release Mr. Pollard as part of a prisoner exchange with Israel that would extend peace negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. |
| Even now, nearly three decades later, Mr. Pollard’s case bedevils American Jews. While more and more of them believe the time to release him is long past — he spied for an ally, not an enemy, they say, and has expressed remorse — they are deeply divided over whether he should be used as a chit in a diplomatic transaction with Israel. | Even now, nearly three decades later, Mr. Pollard’s case bedevils American Jews. While more and more of them believe the time to release him is long past — he spied for an ally, not an enemy, they say, and has expressed remorse — they are deeply divided over whether he should be used as a chit in a diplomatic transaction with Israel. |
| The talk of freeing him roused another ghost from the past: the dark suggestion that American Jews, like Mr. Pollard, inevitably hold divided loyalties and cannot be trusted in sensitive posts. | The talk of freeing him roused another ghost from the past: the dark suggestion that American Jews, like Mr. Pollard, inevitably hold divided loyalties and cannot be trusted in sensitive posts. |
| If Mr. Pollard is given a hero’s welcome in Israel — a likely situation, given the Israeli government’s long campaign on his behalf — American Jews worry that it will cause a backlash in the United States, where Mr. Pollard is still viewed by many, especially in the national security establishment, as a traitor who sold his country’s secrets for cash. | If Mr. Pollard is given a hero’s welcome in Israel — a likely situation, given the Israeli government’s long campaign on his behalf — American Jews worry that it will cause a backlash in the United States, where Mr. Pollard is still viewed by many, especially in the national security establishment, as a traitor who sold his country’s secrets for cash. |
| “Pollard represents the ultimate betrayal,” said Aaron David Miller, one of a circle of American Jewish diplomats who came of age at the time of Mr. Pollard’s arrest. “He is also a poster child for one of the darker tropes in American society: that Jews simply cannot have a single loyalty.” | “Pollard represents the ultimate betrayal,” said Aaron David Miller, one of a circle of American Jewish diplomats who came of age at the time of Mr. Pollard’s arrest. “He is also a poster child for one of the darker tropes in American society: that Jews simply cannot have a single loyalty.” |
| Born in Galveston, Tex., to a Jewish family shadowed by the Holocaust, Mr. Pollard grew up with Zionist ideals and a fascination with the world of spying. With a Stanford degree, he was hired as a Navy intelligence analyst and soon began selling classified information to an Israeli handler, who paid him $1,500 a month, bought his wife a diamond and sapphire ring, and sent the couple on expensive trips to Europe. | Born in Galveston, Tex., to a Jewish family shadowed by the Holocaust, Mr. Pollard grew up with Zionist ideals and a fascination with the world of spying. With a Stanford degree, he was hired as a Navy intelligence analyst and soon began selling classified information to an Israeli handler, who paid him $1,500 a month, bought his wife a diamond and sapphire ring, and sent the couple on expensive trips to Europe. |
| In 1985, Mr. Pollard sought asylum in Israel’s embassy in Washington, but was disavowed by the Israelis. In 1987, after reading a memo from the defense secretary at the time, Caspar W. Weinberger, detailing the damage he had done, a judge sentenced him to a life term. Since 1993, he has been in a federal prison in North Carolina. | In 1985, Mr. Pollard sought asylum in Israel’s embassy in Washington, but was disavowed by the Israelis. In 1987, after reading a memo from the defense secretary at the time, Caspar W. Weinberger, detailing the damage he had done, a judge sentenced him to a life term. Since 1993, he has been in a federal prison in North Carolina. |
| Mr. Hoenlein, who has visited Mr. Pollard in jail, said he should be released purely on humanitarian grounds. But he said he was resigned to the possibility that his release could be linked to Middle East politics, particularly since Mr. Pollard is eligible for parole in November 2015, which makes him a diminishing asset as a bargaining chip. | Mr. Hoenlein, who has visited Mr. Pollard in jail, said he should be released purely on humanitarian grounds. But he said he was resigned to the possibility that his release could be linked to Middle East politics, particularly since Mr. Pollard is eligible for parole in November 2015, which makes him a diminishing asset as a bargaining chip. |
| “All along, many of us felt his release would be part of a larger context,” said Mr. Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. | “All along, many of us felt his release would be part of a larger context,” said Mr. Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. |
| For some Jewish leaders, however, the prospect that Mr. Pollard’s release would be part of a Middle East peace deal reflects the desperation of Secretary of State John Kerry to keep the peace talks alive. It also muddies the moral issue, since, in exchange, Israel would agree to release 400 prisoners, including Israeli Arabs, some of whom are guilty of killing Jews. | For some Jewish leaders, however, the prospect that Mr. Pollard’s release would be part of a Middle East peace deal reflects the desperation of Secretary of State John Kerry to keep the peace talks alive. It also muddies the moral issue, since, in exchange, Israel would agree to release 400 prisoners, including Israeli Arabs, some of whom are guilty of killing Jews. |
| “If everything the secretary of state has achieved hangs on the thread of exchanging Jonathan Pollard for Palestinian murderers of women and children, then there wasn’t much there to begin with,” said Abraham H. Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League. | “If everything the secretary of state has achieved hangs on the thread of exchanging Jonathan Pollard for Palestinian murderers of women and children, then there wasn’t much there to begin with,” said Abraham H. Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League. |
| At the time of Mr. Pollard’s arrest, American Jews were uniformly appalled by his crimes, Mr. Foxman said, and worried that it might have major repercussions. He recalled rejecting a request that the Anti-Defamation League declare the life sentence anti-Semitic. | At the time of Mr. Pollard’s arrest, American Jews were uniformly appalled by his crimes, Mr. Foxman said, and worried that it might have major repercussions. He recalled rejecting a request that the Anti-Defamation League declare the life sentence anti-Semitic. |
| Nowhere was the anxiety more acute than among Jews working in sensitive jobs involving the Middle East, jobs that were just opening up to Jews during the Reagan administration. | Nowhere was the anxiety more acute than among Jews working in sensitive jobs involving the Middle East, jobs that were just opening up to Jews during the Reagan administration. |
| Daniel C. Kurtzer, a former ambassador to Egypt and Israel, said he knew of Jews who were removed from projects involving Israel after Mr. Pollard’s arrest. Even now, he said, Americans with relatives living in Israel are sometimes denied high-level security clearances. | Daniel C. Kurtzer, a former ambassador to Egypt and Israel, said he knew of Jews who were removed from projects involving Israel after Mr. Pollard’s arrest. Even now, he said, Americans with relatives living in Israel are sometimes denied high-level security clearances. |
| Dennis B. Ross, a senior adviser on the Middle East to both President Bill Clinton and President Obama, recalled fearing that his loyalty as a Pentagon policy analyst would be questioned after Mr. Pollard’s arrest. “Initially, there was a kind of abhorrence,” he said. “But the longer he’s been in, the more people ask questions.” | Dennis B. Ross, a senior adviser on the Middle East to both President Bill Clinton and President Obama, recalled fearing that his loyalty as a Pentagon policy analyst would be questioned after Mr. Pollard’s arrest. “Initially, there was a kind of abhorrence,” he said. “But the longer he’s been in, the more people ask questions.” |
| Among those who have publicly called for Mr. Pollard’s release are two former secretaries of state, Henry A. Kissinger and George P. Shultz, and a former director of the C.I.A., R. James Woolsey. | Among those who have publicly called for Mr. Pollard’s release are two former secretaries of state, Henry A. Kissinger and George P. Shultz, and a former director of the C.I.A., R. James Woolsey. |
| While Mr. Pollard remains a reviled figure among many American Jews, support for his release crosses political boundaries. | While Mr. Pollard remains a reviled figure among many American Jews, support for his release crosses political boundaries. |
| “This is someone whose politics I detest, and whose role in the public sphere will be to support reactionary Israeli policy,” said Michael Lerner, the editor of Tikkun, a progressive Jewish magazine in Berkeley, Calif. “Nevertheless, his continued imprisonment is unconscionable.” | “This is someone whose politics I detest, and whose role in the public sphere will be to support reactionary Israeli policy,” said Michael Lerner, the editor of Tikkun, a progressive Jewish magazine in Berkeley, Calif. “Nevertheless, his continued imprisonment is unconscionable.” |
| Mr. Lerner believes that the issue of dual loyalties has faded for American Jews, along with Mr. Pollard’s case. If young Jews were asked about Mr. Pollard, he said, “the answer would be ‘Pollard who?'” | Mr. Lerner believes that the issue of dual loyalties has faded for American Jews, along with Mr. Pollard’s case. If young Jews were asked about Mr. Pollard, he said, “the answer would be ‘Pollard who?'” |
| “He’s not an issue; he’s not in people’s consciousness,” he added. | “He’s not an issue; he’s not in people’s consciousness,” he added. |
| For the Israeli government, which granted Mr. Pollard citizenship in 1995 and admitted that he had spied for the country in 1998, his release is now an article of faith. | For the Israeli government, which granted Mr. Pollard citizenship in 1995 and admitted that he had spied for the country in 1998, his release is now an article of faith. |
| “He is the embodiment of a national narrative of the Jew who sacrificed himself for his people,” said Michael B. Oren, an American-born historian who renounced his American citizenship in 2009 to become Israel’s ambassador to the United States. | “He is the embodiment of a national narrative of the Jew who sacrificed himself for his people,” said Michael B. Oren, an American-born historian who renounced his American citizenship in 2009 to become Israel’s ambassador to the United States. |