Israelis surprisingly unimpressed with “insult” of Pollard release as Iran deal compensation

[Valin]

Hot Air:

Ed Morrissey

July 27, 2015

 

Don’t get the Israelis wrong on Jonathan Pollard and his reportedly imminent release. Not only do they eagerly await the opportunity to welcome him as a hero, they remain angry that this homecoming has not yet taken place. That’s why the trial balloon floated by administration officials on Friday was taken as an “insult” by many Israelis, who see the deal with Iran as a betrayal. It won’t shut them up about the danger of the Iran agreement, either:

 

(Snip)

 

Both the Obama administration and Benjamin Netanyahu’s office insist that there has been “zero linkage” between the Iran deal and Pollard. Not everyone’s buying that, especially with the recent leak from the White House, and its recent history of using Pollard as a bargaining chip:

 

 

 

Columnist Ronen Bergman in the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth wrote that it was hard to see the timing of Pollard’s release “as a mere coincidence.” He called Pollard “a consolation prize” for the Iran deal.

 

Bergman and other Israeli political commentators noted that U.S. and Israeli diplomats discussed releasing Pollard as a way to bring Israel back to the negotiating table after talks with the Palestinians collapsed this past year.

 

(Snip)

 

So what will they say? The Israelis argue that Pollard’s done more time for the charge to which he pled guilty than anyone else, but the US intelligence community argues that Pollard wasn’t just a spy for Israel, either. Investigators found evidence that he had passed secrets to South Africa as well as Israel, tried to work with Pakistan and maybe Iran too, and that his primary motivation was money, not loyalty to Israel. He exposed a key NSA system (RAISIN) that went beyond the intel-sharing agreement with Israel on which Pollard has rested his public-relations defense ever since. However, those allegations were not part of the plea deal, and the parole board may decide not to consider those issues … or the federal government could choose not to bring them up at all.

 

(Snip)

 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

I'm thinking release him the day after he dies.