Guest Blog: Letter to MK Yishai: 'Your support could not have been more timely'

Dear MK Yishai
 
I was very gratified by the decision of Rabbi Yosef and Shas to openly support the release of Jonathan Pollard. During our earliest correspondence Jonathan and I agreed that his only real possibility for release would result from the intervention of the Israel Government on his behalf.
 
As one who helped organize and was first Director of Justice for the Pollards in 1989 I have taken an active interest in his case for many years. In 1989 I brought Jonathan's sister to Israel to lay the foundation for grassroots and governmental support for his release. That visit resulted in a letter from the Chief Rabbis to President Reagan, the public support of Interior Minister Hammer, and a meeting in the Knesset with more than 30 members from all parties. From that meeting, and with the assistance of the office of MK Geula Cohen, we were able to draft a petition calling for Pollard's release. The petition was signed by more than seventy members and delivered to the White House by an official delegation of Knesset members in early 1990. 
 
On the flight to Israel for that visit a member of the press asked if I was involved in a possible three-way prisoner swap involving Pollard. I was not but the possibility of trading something important to the US for the release of Pollard remained with me since. There was something not quite right in the manner of Jonathan's arrest and trial that left me uncomfortable that the entire exercise was a sham, political and not legal. This feeling was reinforced over the years be the public use made of him since, for example during the Wye River and Camp David negotiations. I strongly believe that Pollard is in a very real sense a hostage to US-Israel relations and will only be released by presidential order.
 
The timing of your support could not have been better as this president, more than previous ones, needs a diplomatic success, and only a credible Palestinian peace partner can advance his moribund Annapolis summit. Clearly the present state of chaos in the Territories does not advance that goal.
 
Based on the possibility that Marwan Barghouti might be able to bring social and political stability to the Territories, and the apparent support for his release among several prominent Israeli politicians, I believe Israel will eventually release him. It is just a matter of when and under what conditions. That said I see a genuine opportunity to couple this inevitability with freedom also for Jonathan Pollard as well as Gilad Schalit. I believe that you, MK Yishai and Shas followed the same line of reasoning in reaching your decision to publicly support Pollard's release at this time.
 
Jonathan is a very proud, idealistic and principled man, the same Jonathan who threw caution to the wind to provide Israel with the illegally withheld intelligence resulting in his incarceration. Jonathan has repeatedly stated he would rather remain in prison than be party to the release of a terrorist, a position restated recently by Esther Pollard. One can but love and respect the man for his continuing willingness to place Israel above his own welfare! But it is also clear that Jonathan will likely spend twenty more years, possibly be allowed to die in prison unless Israel is willing to apply the necessary political leverage to obtain his release. His and Esther's protests aside Barghouti will eventually be freed. If we can use Barghouti to finally snatch Jonathan from the hands of his tormentors, if Israel can finally follow the Tsahal dictum of "no soldier left behind," then we are obligated to act on Jonathan's behalf. Even if this means doing so above his own protest.   
 
With respect and gratitude,
 
 
David Turner