Mitt's (Last?) Major Mistake: Israel & Pollard

[georgephillip]

That would be Jonathan Pollard...

"Jonathan Jay Pollard (born August 7, 1954, Galveston, Texas) worked as an American civilian intelligence analyst before being convicted of spying for Israel. He received a life sentence in 1987."

What nation does the CIA consider the biggest counterintelligence threat in the agency's Near East Division, "the group that oversees spying across the Middle East"? (It's not Iran)

Should we ask Mitt?

"If Mitt Romney wants to utterly bungle his visit to Israel, and he might, he ought to call for the release of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard .

"Pro-Israel types, wheeling out John McCain on their side, are already pressuring Romney to do so. And Romney, a relative ignoramus on foreign policy matters, might actually be thinking of playing the 'Pollard card.' Reports the Jerusalem Post :

"In his only public comments about Pollard so far, Romney told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in December that he was 'open to examining' the case.

"While one Jewish leader said afterward that he was confident that Romney would see the justice in Pollard’s case once he studied it, another Jewish leader present at the meeting said he was disappointed Romney did not call for Pollard’s release.

"If he does, most of the U.S. national security community will come down on Romney like, well, a ton of halvah."

Romney, Pollard and Israel: The Next Big Gaffe? | The Nation

Maybe Mitt should stick to Missions in France?

 

[buckeye45_73]

Well I'd have to disagree with Romney on that....but he's still better than Obama.....The Nation.....Is Katrina Vandenhuevel still running that rag, David Corn wen to Mother Jones....what a bunch of nitwits

 

[georgephillip]

Well I'd have to disagree with Romney on that....but he's still better than Obama.....The Nation.....Is Katrina Vandenhuevel still running that rag, David Corn wen to Mother Jones....what a bunch of nitwits

What's your impression of AP?

"WASHINGTON (AP)—The CIA station chief opened the locked box containing the sensitive equipment he used from his home in Tel Aviv, Israel, to communicate with CIA headquarters in Virginia, only to find that someone had tampered with it. He sent word to his superiors about the break-in.

"The incident, described by three former senior U.S. intelligence officials, might have been dismissed as just another cloak-and-dagger incident in the world of international espionage, except that the same thing had happened to the previous station chief in Israel."

Romney, Pollard and Israel: The Next Big Gaffe? | The Nation

Maybe more nitwits should care about a US "strategic asset" that wouldn't exist without the US taxpayer biting the hand that feeds it?

 

[waltky]

Israel wantin' their spy released...

Netanyahu reportedly asking US to release Pollard to Israel
November 19,`15 — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the United States to allow convicted spy Jonathan Pollard to return immediately to Israel upon his upcoming release from a federal prison, a pro-government Israeli newspaper reported Thursday.

According to the Israel Hayom daily, Netanyahu has been lobbying Washington to let Pollard travel to Israel instead of completing his five years’ parole in the United States. A spokesman for Netanyahu would not confirm the report. The three-decade imprisonment in the U.S. of Pollard, 61, has been a source of diplomatic tension between the two allies. He has been serving a life sentence but was granted parole this year under sentencing rules at the time of his prosecution. He is expected to be released on Friday from a federal prison in Butner, North Carolina.

Jonathan Pollard speaks during an interview in a conference room at the Federal Correction Institution in Butner, N.C. Pollard, the Navy intelligence analyst whose 1985 arrest for selling secrets to Israel set off a sensational spy saga, is scheduled to be released from federal prison next week, marking the end of a three-decade diplomatic burr in the relationship between two allies.​

Education Minister Naftali Bennet praised Pollard as a hero Thursday, even as Netanyahu instructed officials to keep quiet over the sensitive issue of the release. Under the terms of Pollard’s release, he is not allowed to leave the U.S. for five years. “The people of Israel embrace him,” Bennett told Army Radio, though he added that he had been asked “not to speak expansively” about Pollard’s release. “Pollard was an emissary of the State of Israel for good and bad,” Bennet added. “He did not do it for himself but for the people of Israel. And we are happy he will finally be released.”

Pollard was a Navy intelligence analyst when he was arrested in 1985 for selling secrets to Israel. He pleaded guilty a year later to conspiracy to commit espionage and was sentenced in 1987 to life in prison. He has argued that his guilty plea was coerced and that his sentence was excessive. The sensational spy saga divided public opinion in both Israel and America. The U.S. last year hinted at freeing Pollard early as an incentive for Israel to continue negotiating with Palestinians. But the peace effort collapsed and Pollard remained in prison. He also came up for parole last year but was denied. Pollard’s supporters, including many Israeli citizens, long maintained he provided information critical to Israel’s security interests at a time when the country was under threat from its Middle East neighbors. U.S. officials condemned him as a traitor.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Pollard finally released...

Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard freed from U.S. prison after 30 years
Nov. 20, 2015 -- Jonathan Pollard, former U.S. analyst convicted of sharing classified intelligence with Israel, was released from prison after 30 years Friday.

Now 61 years old, Pollard was freed from incarceration in North Carolina and greeted by his wife, Ester. As part of his parole agreement, the former government employee cannot move to Israel for five years, give interviews or go on the Internet. Pollard is reportedly willing to give up his U.S. citizenship in order to reside in Israel.

Pollard was arrested by the FBI in 1985 after failing to secure asylum within the Israeli Embassy in Washington. The same year, he pleaded guilty to passing secret documents covering warfare capabilities of such Arab countries as Syria and Libya to the Israeli government and was sentenced to life in prison.

The decision to release Pollard is considered by some a step forward from the decades-long tension between the United States and Israel. The U.S. ally has long argued Pollard's life sentence was too harsh, though it did not admit Pollard had worked directly to its government until 1998. Frequent requests for an early release were repeatedly denied until the U.S. Parole Commission ordered Pollard's release in July.

U.S. presidents including President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama have refused to grant Pollard clemency up to this point. However, the Justice Department reportedly did not reject this petition for release. "As someone who has raised Jonathan Pollard's case for many years with U.S. presidents, I have wished for this day," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, as quoted by BBC. "After 30 long and hard years, Jonathan Pollard is finally reuniting with his family," a spokesperson added.

Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard freed from U.S. prison after 30 years