The debate over how the Israeli government will deal with the expiration of its six-month settlement freeze in the West Bank got stranger yesterday when both the New York Times and Politico published stories alleging that Jerusalem had asked the United States whether it would free convicted spy Jonathan Pollard in exchange for a freeze in settlements. According to the Times’s Isabel Kershner, such a deal would help Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sell a renewal of the freeze to his coalition partners. Pollard’s fate was discussed in 1998 during the negotiations between Netanyahu and Bill Clinton over the Wye Plantation Agreement, one of the many interim agreements that stemmed from the failed Oslo peace process. At that time, the U.S. intelligence community revolted at the idea of freeing Pollard and wound up spiking the proposal.
The anonymous sources for the current reports don’t seem to be based on anything more than rumination inside the prime minister’s bureau, but Israel’s interest in springing Pollard, an American Jew who has spent the last 25 years in prison for spying for the Israelis while he served as a U.S. Navy analyst, is a longstanding issue. While Pollard was guilty of a very serious crime and deserved punishment, his sentence was extremely harsh when compared with the treatment of others who spied here on behalf of allies. Some American Jews have foolishly lionized Pollard’s espionage, which did great harm to Israel and its alliance with the United States. It’s not entirely clear whether the reason Pollard is still in jail is due to his own refusal to express contrition for his actions or the continued intransigence of the American intelligence community. Either way, Pollard’s chances for clemency have long been considered remote. Yet, despite the fact that the heavy-handed tactics of some of his supporters alienated many who might otherwise have been sympathetic to Pollard’s plight and further undermined the chances of successful appeals for his release, there is still considerable sympathy for Pollard in Israel, where he is seen as a man who was exploited and then abandoned by his handlers.
But injecting Pollard into the delicate negotiations with the Obama administration and the Palestinian Authority is a tactic of questionable utility for Netanyahu. Though the idea that Pollard appears to be destined to rot in jail forever while those who spied here for hostile nations receive light sentences or are exchanged after virtually no time in prison strikes many Israelis as unjust, buying his freedom with a costly policy concession cannot be considered wise statecraft. Nor is it clear that Pollard’s release would do much to comfort Israeli right-wingers who are upset about a settlement freeze.
If anything, the floating of Pollard’s name in connection with the peace talks illustrates the lack of seriousness of these negotiations. The reality of Palestinian politics and the strength of Hamas mean there is no chance that the Palestinian Authority will sign any peace agreement, and both Abbas and Netanyahu are merely trying to act in such a manner as to evade blame for the eventual failure of the talks. So instead of serious give and take about final-status issues, we are hearing about tangential topics such as Pollard or Palestinian threats to walk out over the failure of Israeli to concede its position in the territories even before the talks begin. Whether or not the spy-exchange proposal is genuine, the discussion of such an eventuality says a lot more about the futility of President Obama’s ill-considered push for talks at a time when progress is virtually impossible than it does about Pollard’s fate.
“For starters, the United Arab Republic hasn’t existed for nearly half a century. (Does Matthews also still speak of the Trucial States?)”
Eric…this is the left we’re talking about…their house organ is stuck on stupid with “al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.”
“…a veteran senator with decades of errors in facts and judgment to his name.”
We should also ask this very valid question: Is Joe Biden crazier than a bed bug? Does anybody doubt that the MSM would demand a psychiatric examination of any GOP vice president who behaved like the Democratic Party nominee? Come on, let’s get real. Biden richly deserves the nickname of “Crazy Joe.”
Well, most candidates pledge to move our embassy to Jerusalem and no one actually expects they will. I’m not even that upset about it; seems to me that doing so would cause all sorts of problems in return for a largely symbolic action that really won’t accomplish much.
And yes, Biden’s missteps–he also recently referred to the “liberty clause” of the Fourteenth Amendment which not only has no such clause, it doesn’t even mention the word “liberty”–would be helpful to the McCain-Palin campaign if the media actually bothered discussing it. But I checked our local (Detroit) newspapers the next day and the websites for the New York Times and several news sites such as NBC, CNN, and so forth. Any mentions of these blunders was short and by the way. I can just imagine if Palin had made any such error.
It’s fair to ask about a candidate’s instincts and advisers. On Israel in particular, Obama’s instincts are poor and his advisers scary. No one can doubt McCain’s position on the issue and if it were President Palin for whatever reason, her instincts and advisers are reassuring and did you see her face and hear her voice at the debate? She genuinely loves Israel. Some, not all, of the reasons relate to religious beliefs I don’t share but as to that, I’ll go with Hillel Halkin in a recent issue of this magazine: We should welcome all legitimate support and when the Messiah comes we can ask him if he’s been here before.
Gentleman, please note:
The United States Jerusalem Embassy Act, passed by Congress on October 23, 1995 , states that “Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel; and the United States Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999″.
The act asserts that every country has a right to designate the capital of its choice, and that Israel has designated Jerusalem. Jerusalem is defined as the spiritual center of Judaism. Furthermore, it stipulates that since the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967, religious freedom has been guaranteed to all.
The Act was adopted by the Senate (93-5) and the House (374-37).
I do not as yet know ehtehr Matthews actually voted for that bill but one would seem he is sworn to uphold the law of the land, no?
Sorry, typo corrected:
I do not as yet know wether Matthews actually voted for that bill but one would seem he is sworn to uphold the law of the land, no?
Yisrael Medad:
“I do not as yet know wether Matthews actually voted for that bill but one would seem he is sworn to uphold the law of the land, no?”
I am confused
As far as I know, Chris Matthews is not an elected official who would get to vote on any bill and I don’t even think he is a practicing attorney, so why would he have to uphold that law per se?
Sorry, a mea culpa. I responded before reading the source. It’s now fixed: http://myrightword.blogspot.com/2008/10/another-duh.html