Following the recent Palestinian initiative to go unilaterally to the U.N. in order to declare statehood, Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel, Israeli Justice Minister Tzippi Livni, and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman condemned the Palestinian Authority. Ariel called for Pollard to be released unconditionally, while associates of Lieberman stated that he would permit his ministers to vote for phase four of the prisoner release agreement if Pollard were to be freed yet otherwise, he would be opposed.
After it was reported that the Palestinians are going to turn to the U.N. to declare a state unilaterally in violation of the understandings that was reached between Israel, the United States and the Palestinian Authority, JerusalemOnline News reported that Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Ha-Yehudi) stated that the Palestinians turning to the U.N. “destroys all of the agreements.”
On his Facebook page, he wrote, “We need to respond in kind and to take action to cancel the Oslo Agreements, which brought about only terrorism and murders. The Palestinians have proven once again that there is no reason to provide them empty gifts and to free terrorists for a process whose end is known in advance.”
“It is impossible to free Pollard if it will be part of a bloody deal like this,” the Israeli minister stressed. “The U.S. should free Pollard in honor of the holiday of freedom, Passover, and to display humanity for his situation. He paid his dues and its time to release him. Don’t hold him hostage any longer.”
Inside Israel, many Israelis believe that it is unfair that Pollard received a life sentence, when the average prison sentence for spying for an ally within the U.S. is only several years.
The Jewish Press noted that Abdul Khader Helmy, who spied for Egypt, served only four years in prison after passing on information that assisted Iraq with improving the accuracy of their ballistic missiles. Michael Schwartz, who spied for Saudi Arabia, never served a day in prison out of consideration for Saudi sensitivities. He was merely reprimanded and given a dishonorable discharge. There are many such examples. Israelis don’t understand why Pollard should be treated any different, since Israel is an American ally and not an enemy state. American claims that Pollard assisted the Soviet Union as well have not been substantiated or proven to be true.
Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel was not the only Israeli leader to condemn the new Palestinian unilateral step and call for Pollard’s freedom. The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told a group of Yisrael Beytenu activists, “When the Palestinians joined UNESCO; it didn’t give them independence or bring about Middle East peace. It’s a mistake for them to go to the U.N.”
“We proved Israel is ready to reach a final-status agreement with the Palestinians,” he said. “But as much as Israel wanted to, it doesn’t look like its happening. In the last government, we also made difficult gestures, including a settlement freeze and then too it didn’t get us a millimeter closer to an agreement with the Palestinians.” Lieberman condemned Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen for wanting a “judenrein” Palestine and “interfering in internal Israeli affairs” by asking for the release of Israeli Arab security prisoners.
Nevertheless, despite Lieberman’s opposition to freeing Israeli Arab terrorists, the Jerusalem Post reported that associates of Lieberman stated if a deal would include the freedom of Jonathan Pollard, he would let his Yisrael Beytenu party’s five ministers vote their conscious and this would enable the deal to pass. In other words, had Abu Mazen not decided to go to the U.N., there is a very good chance that Israel would have accepted U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s request to implement phase four of the prisoner release agreement in exchange for the freedom of Jonathan Pollard and extending the peace negotiations another year.
The Israeli government is very much interested in extending the peace negotiations. Head of the Israeli negotiating team Justice Minister Tzippi Livni (Hatnuah) wrote yesterday on her Facebook: “The conventions that the Palestinians applied for at the UN are not encouraging, but we must not give up. The Palestinian move damages Palestinian interests. If they want a state, they need to understand that this will happen only via negotiations. These days are very complex and complicated. I sleep very little in an attempt to continue the complex, difficult and complicated negotiations with the Palestinians.”
Livni promised to do every thing possible to continue the political process. “Even if peace appears to be distancing and the conduct of the other side is not helpful, I will pledge that we will continue to fight for peace and stand like a wall in front of the extremists that try to prevent peace,” she told Israel’s Channel 2 News. In the past, the Jerusalem Post reported that Livni stated, “Pollard paid a heavy price for his contribution to the State of Israel.” When she was foreign minister, she urged the U.S. to release Pollard in gratitude for Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza.
Contrary to how the majority of the Israeli government feels, it is important to note that Israeli terror victims are adamantly opposed to freeing additional Palestinian terrorists, even if it means that Pollard will be released. Meir Indor, chairman of the Almagor terror victims association, told Yedioth Achronot: “We are trying to convey a very clear message that releasing murderers with blood on their hands is something that should not be done. The Americans are forcing Israel to negotiate over Jewish blood.”
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