In Thursday's Jerusalem Post, there was an article about the rally for Jonathan Pollard in Jerusalem at the Western Wall. I've expressed my opinion about the Pollard case before, and I don't have a lot more to say about it. But I do have something to say about this:
Crowds at the Wall, some wearing T-shirts emblazoned with "Free Pollard Now" in Hebrew and English, read from a prayer sheet arranged by [former chief Rabbi of Israel Mordechai] Eliahu, who took up Pollard's cause in 1991.
The prayer asks God to open the gates of mercy for Pollard, and that "all the good deeds he did for the Jewish people should be remembered before You... so that it should be good for him and his wife... [so that they will merit] to establish a Jewish home with healthy sons and daughters," said the rabbi, his voice booming across the holy site with the aid of loudspeakers.
Also in attendance was Esther Pollard, Jonathan's wife, who said she was "overwhelmed and touched" by the crowd's diversity and scale. "What brought tears to my eyes was to see so many young people who weren't even born when Jonathan was sentenced and who grasp the meaning of what he did for Israel," said Pollard, who made the trip from North Carolina for the event.
But Esther Pollard had yet more to say about those "young people,' which she included in her own lengthy account of the rally.
That they turned up at the rally in such numbers is a miracle. That they care so deeply and are so committed to seeing Jonathan home is an even greater miracle. They care about their fellow Jew in a way that their parents did not know how to care. They truly love and admire Jonathan. They respect what he did for the People of Israel. And they know the value of a Jewish soul. I am now convinced that these youngsters are the pure souls that will bring redemption to our nation.
Now, here's the thing. There are a lot of questions about the way Jonathan Pollard has been treated since his arrest for passing classified U.S. military secrets to Israel. There are serious and valid concerns about multiple abuses of his rights and there are perhaps equally serious and valid concerns about the apparent withholding of information from Israel that the U.S. was obliged by treaty and agreement to provide. Nevertheless, Jonathan Pollard committed a crime. He betrayed his country (which is also mine), he broke the law and he got caught. Jonathan Pollard is no hero. He's a convicted criminal, an admitted criminal. And one whose expressions of remorse are hard to take seriously when his wife and his supporters continue to express respect and admiration for his crime and to publicly exhort others to do so, as well.
Pollard was trying to right a perceived wrong. Given the limited facts at my disposal, I would agree that Israel should have been provided with the information in question. It's my understanding that it had to do with the plans, resources and abilities of various Arab countries to attack Israel. But it's a far leap from that understanding to justifying an act of espionage against the United States on behalf of any other country, friend or foe. And it remains unclear to me, anyway, what exactly it is that Pollard "did for the People of Israel."
There's no evidence (though Pollard supporters make vague claims) that Pollard's information had the slightest impact on Israel's defense against Iraq's scuds in the first Gulf War. His intelligence was old by that time and the United States was in any event cooperating with Israel fully on the defensive front in order to assure that Israel would stay out of the war. Did the information allow Israel to prevent other attacks that we don't know about? Well, since we don't know about them, it's hard to say.
What's not hard to say is this. It isn't honorable for a U.S. citizen to elevate his own judgment over that of those entrusted with our national security, no matter how just or noble the cause may seem. Perhaps an Arab-American naval officer will one day see it as equally essential to pass on U.S. intelligence about Israeli intentions and capabilities to Saudi Arabia, or Egypt, or Syria. Perhaps one already has.
I suppose we consider our own spies and those of our allies to be heros. We cheer for James Bond, after all. But that's when they're spying on the enemy, the evil empire, the forces of darkness. I doubt that we'd have as much enthusiasm for an American spy stealing secrets from London or Madrid. And I doubt that most Israelis have much respect or appreciation for Jonathan Pollard, the four thousand or so souls who showed up at Wednesday's rally notwithstanding.
But as an American, even recognizing that his heart may have been in the right place, I find myself developing increasing contempt for Pollard. And the more I hear about how I have an obligation, as a Jew, to lobby for his release, the more contempt I have. He's no hero of mine. And as long as he thinks he should be, perhaps jail is the best place for him, after all.
