Jonathan Pollard’s lawyer, Adv. Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, spoke this morning (Wednesday) with Guy Peleg and Anat Davidov on their program on 103FM about Pollard’s nocturnal arrival in Israel with his wife Esther and said: “We need to shatter the myths around him and accept Him in love. He did the things he did for the State of Israel for Zionist reasons and paid a heavy, huge price. “
The return of Jonathan Pollard and his wife Esther early in the morning here in Israel, quietly arrived. Pollard’s lawyer is Nitzana Darshan Leitner. An exciting moment right?
“Absolutely, completely. I think it’s time to bless our lives and rejoice in the joy of Jonathan Pollard and his wife who finally after 35 years of torture and great suffering and pain have come to earth to the stronghold of their possessions.”
Can you shed light on his arrival in Israel? Where is he expected to live? On whose plane did he arrive in Israel? Who organized?
“He is supposed to live in Jerusalem, he is currently in temporary isolation.”
Already rented?
“Yes and there is already an apartment waiting for him, he and his wife, the plan was to arrive in the country immediately after a round of his wife’s treatments while finding a medical alternative in the country. Once the arrangements were made they could leave New York and arrive here. “He generously agreed to fund this event and the intention was that they would arrive quietly, that they would leave New York without parades and unnecessary noise, and that they would also arrive here relatively quietly.”
Adelson is expected to be his sponsor? Continue to provide him with a livelihood and housing?
“No, no. This was a good thing they agreed to do, I think it was better than a commercial flight coming and that’s it. Now they are alone, I’m sure they will find the right arrangement to continue their lives. So far they have been supported by private individuals who helped, even now I get lots of inquiries from people “They want to help and I hope it will not be necessary. He was an agent of the state and the state is confident that he will bear his welfare.”
Will you fund it?
“Like any other agent, we are not going into details at the moment. He has worked in the civil service for 35 years, all the rights that come under the law and there are certain laws, this case should not fall.”
Did you get to talk this morning?
“This morning not yet, we talked before the flight. They are very excited, they really feel like closing a circle and want to start a new life. Jonathan is a brilliant guy, he has high-tech plans and various inventions that he shared with me.”
Where do you see him in a few years? Does he have political ambitions?
“No. I think it is not worth repeating the mistake and lie he spied for other countries, there is no evidence that he spied for other countries. He also did not act for financial motives in any way, he volunteered to give this information to Rafi and after a year he worked for no consideration , Rafi was the one who offered him the payment and actually obliged him to pay because he turned him into a kind of Israeli agent. We have to shatter some such myths and accept him with love. He did the things he did for the State of Israel for Zionist reasons, he paid a heavy, huge price for “Offenses of the kind he committed – espionage for a friendly country. He should have received a maximum of 7 years in prison. He received an indefinite life sentence without the ability to pardon and another 5 years.”
This thing has obscured Israel-US relations for a long time.
“It’s not Pollard’s fault, he was here the victim and the goat to hell. The state conducted itself illegally in the early years, did not take responsibility, it dumped it to the dogs and did not do anything that required it to take responsibility as an agent in the US with all the harsh meanings. “There have been tremendous efforts on the part of the Prime Minister and it would have been good if he had an excellent relationship with the incumbent president who is about to end his term which ultimately led to this release.”
Benjamin Netanyahu and Jonathan Pollard (Photo: None)“A large stone lying on our backs started rolling down today”
A spokesman for the Pollard Liberation Committee and his associate Adi Ginzburg spoke with Ben Caspit and Winon Magal about Pollard’s arrival in Israel and said: And the wrong attitude that has been in place for 35 years seems to be coming off her back completely. “
For years he sends me whatsapps about Pollard, working behind the scenes with no aura and no headlines. Align a large force.
“There are many, many more people and on this day the whole people of Israel belong.”
How old are you in the picture?
“I was born half a year after he went to jail. I got to know my wife through the activity – I got a lot. 17 years ago I was a high school yeshiva student I did not know there was such a thing as Jonathan Pollard, the subject was completely silenced despite many years you also did. Efforts are being made to flood it, but it was not in the national consciousness. “
It became a political matter.
“I personally went to demonstrations that stood side by side with the youth of the National Union and the Meretz youth in the call for the liberation of Meretz. There were many years in which disinformation and slander on this issue caused some members of the public to stay away but we ended up in a situation where Netanyahu and others went to the United States. 112 signatures of Knesset members from all corners of the political spectrum. Jonathan worked for us for national security and it is important to note that Jonathan worked for half a full year on a full volunteer basis until the salary issue was proposed by his operators who told him ‘from now on you are ours and your future is with us’. He did pay a very heavy price for the defamation that slandered him. “
He received a monstrously disproportionate punishment.
“It must be said, especially after 20 years they started coming out one after the other and quite bravely “The CIA chiefs, the foreign minister, legal advisers and said, as one who knows all the material classified in the affair, has become a man of insane injustice and it hurts us as Americans that we do not release him.”
The most dramatic scene was in Agreement Y when Netanyahu made a tremendous effort to bring him in, managed to get approval from Clinton and then the CIA chief warned that if they released him everyone would resign.
“Dennis Ross who was then a senior administration official tells how Clinton came to him and asked him about the issue of Pollard’s release and he told him according to what he testifies in his book Pollard is too big a card for the public in Israel, there is a myth not to leave a wounded on the battlefield. It is difficult to know whether the anger of the CIA chief was a separate matter. “
Trump helped?
“I can not expand on what was done and what was not. Certainly unjustified and incorrect resistance could have been produced that could have put sticks in the wheels and the fact is that Jonathan is here. We should say thank you to everyone who acted and did and first and foremost to the Creator of the world.”
Clinton promised Rabin to release him.
“Rabin was the first prime minister to really raise his issue strongly.”
Who made the decision to bring him quietly to Israel?
“The main consideration was that Esther is currently being treated for a not-so-simple illness. They must be in a quiet and discreet place.”