But after serving 30 years in federal prison, he was released on Nov. That cleared the way for him to leave the U. Pollard's arrival was first reported by Israel Hayom, a newspaper owned by Adelson.
The newspaper published photos of Pollard and his wife, both wearing masks, on what it said was a private plane that arrived early Wednesday from Newark, New Jersey.
It said the private flight was necessary due to the medical needs of Esther Pollard. The newspaper's editor, Boaz Bismuth, called it "the most exciting day" of his four-decade journalism career. Photographs of the plane with the Pollards matched the color scheme of aircraft owned by the Las Vegas Sands Corp. Effi Lahav, head of an activist group that had campaigned for Pollard's release from prison, said Pollard's "arrival was kept secret since we realized it's better to be discreet regarding his arrival.
He called Pollard's arrival "very moving and very historic" and a moment that his organization "waited for, wished for and prayed for and acted for throughout all these years. The Ynet website said the couple was in quarantine, which is mandatory for all returning Israelis as a measure to guard against the spread of the coronavirus. The country has barred the arrival of all tourists, but appeared to be welcoming the couple as Israelis.
Pollard's release was the latest in a long line of diplomatic gifts given to Netanyahu by President Donald Trump.
His arrival in Israel gives the embattled Netanyahu a welcome boost as he fights for reelection in March 23 parliamentary elections. Netanyahu has been one of Mr. His accusers did not particularly care about the guilt or innocence of any of the Jews named. All they wanted was another whipping boy. Lucky for Bloomfield and those others on the list that Jonathan chose honor and truth above self-interest, and would not cooperate. Images of a government-compiled list of prominent Jewish names outraged many in American Jewry.
But upon closer examination, such a list seems to be non-existent, and more than implausible on its face. Bloomfield, now a syndicated columnist, ridiculed the idea as well. I have not spent recent years hiding … No one has contacted me. Such contact would have been a certainty had a list really existed.
This has motivated the senior intelligence community to energetically oppose early release for Pollard. Yet efforts to obtain juridical justice for Pollard have faltered over the years. Fox, a former assistant U. Attorney himself, charged that the government breached its plea agreement. But the court refused his effort, citing the absence of any objection by Hibey. The legacy of anger at Pollard is actually handed down from bureaucrat to bureaucrat as new assistant U.
Attorneys come fresh to the case. I said if I did, I would let him know. Actually, at about that time, my assistant was working on a memo on that very topic.
But we thought there was no chance under Supreme Court guidelines … which sets an extremely high standard.
So we never did it. Certain lawyers will simply not attack or criticize another member of the bar, especially one who practices in the same specialty … Many such lawyers will not … risk ostracism within their professional community, by accusing a fellow lawyer of ineffective representation in any case — much less a high profile case, as this one was. He has declined to reply to the legal and Congressional challenges to his representation of Pollard.
Nor did Hibey reply to repeated requests for an interview. At one point, this reporter sat in the reception area outside his Washington office for five hours waiting for a spare moment to posit questions. Hibey refused to meet. Pollard himself, wearing a yarmulke, appeared in the interview room with all the verve of a dinner host.
But juridical justice for Pollard has been frustrated over the years because so many in the Department of Justice and cooperating intelligence establishments have become so hardened against the spy. The legacy of anger is actually handed down from bureaucrat to bureaucrat as new assistant U.
Attorneys come fresh to the case — and yet fight like hell to resist all legal initiatives. For example, Lauer and Semmelman, the latest and best hopes for Pollard, have filed mountains of motions. Direct appeals are not possible, so they are seeking habeas corpus on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel. In other words, they are asking that Pollard be re-sentenced in accordance with his plea agreement — which could theoretically result in yet another life sentence although most scholars think that is doubtful after seventeen years.
As part of their advocacy, Semmelman and Lauer are seeking to examine five sealed court documents. Several inter-agency reviews have also presumably accessed additional copies outside the Justice Department. Hence, the prosecution has unlimited access, and the defense has none. Lauer and Semmelman have been frustrated at every step by protracted delays, refusals, and volumes of hair-splitting government legal arguments.
Each day the case drags on, Pollard remains imprisoned, serving longer than any American ever convicted of disclosing documents to an ally, and even longer than some who committed treason.
In an exclusive prison interview — his first in years — this reporter asked Pollard about the controversies swirling around him. Exchanges in any language but English are strictly verboten. Ironically, the intense government concern about Pollard releasing twenty-year-old technology secrets to outsiders is belied by the fact that he speaks without restriction or monitor to his Canadian wife, Esther, a foreign national in continuous contact with the very Israeli government responsible for the spying.
And he freely talks to hundreds of fellow criminals in prison. There are no bars on the cells, only steel doors with small windows. Prison officials understand they are holding a high-profile convict. Visitors are treated with extreme courtesy and professionalism within the confines of a medium security facility.
But make no mistake, this is highly regimented prison. Hell can also be an antiseptic place. His mental faculties are razor sharp. Subscriptions to numerous newspapers and magazines, as well as constant attention to National Public Radio and CNN, keep Pollard informed about world events up to the minute.
He devours books on a multiplicity of topics. In a wide-ranging minute interview, Pollard presented mixed messages about his original motives and a jumble of emotions. But he was clear about his predicament. No one who has seen what has happened to me over the past seventeen years, could possibly say I feel good, to any degree over what I did.
Did he regret his transgression or just being caught? Then why alienate so many who try to help you? During the course of this initiative we got to know an awful lot of Jewish leaders here in the United States … and they seem to fall into one of several groups in their response to me.
I am thankful for anybody who can do anything constructive to help me. I want help and I need help. The legal merit. What would he do if he was released? This case and everything associated with it is the source of unmitigated, unqualified horror to me.
People I love and care for have been destroyed … [To me] this is Kryptonite. As we concluded the interview, the lawyers discussed flights home, the guards spoke of dinner reservations, the NSA monitors checked their wristwatches as they strolled out to a rented car, and this reporter called his office to plan upcoming travel.
Everyone had someone to see, some place to go, something to do. What began as a tragedy has devolved into a disgrace for all who touch their hands to the sordid Pollard affair. He has managed to shoot his foot and pierce his own palms by daring the prosecutorial establishment to put him away forever — even at the risk of bending, breaking, or brutalizing due process.
For years, Pollard has been gripped by delusions of communal grandeur. But he possibly now grasps that fanciful talk of political paroles and magical commutations will never work. His only hope is the rule of law that guarantees every defendant — including the worst among us — due process. It is indeed the mandatory points of law that make our nation too precious to betray — by anyone, Pollard or prosecutor.
Therefore, in the final analysis, Pollard may not deserve public sympathies. But it is clear he deserves his hearing on habeas corpus. They knelt down at the bottom of the stairs and kissed the tarmac before reciting the Shehecheyanu blessing with the prime minister. It is great that you have finally come home. Now you can start life anew, with freedom and happiness," Mr Netanyahu told Mr Pollard.
Mr Pollard said: "We are ecstatic to be home at last after 35 years and we thank the people and the prime minister of Israel for bringing us home. No-one could be prouder of this country or this leader than we are. The couple will spend the next two weeks in quarantine at their apartment in Jerusalem, in order to comply with Israel's coronavirus restrictions. Writing in the newspaper Israel Hayom , which she owns along with her husband, Miriam Adelson called for Mr Pollard to be welcomed "quietly, with a huge sigh of relief, with tears of remorse, and with a long and grateful hug".
In an interview with the Associated Press in , Mr Pollard said the price he had paid for spying had not been worth it.
0コメント