Posted on 06/23/2004 12:58:35 PM PDT by areafiftyone
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Contrary to his own claims, former U.S. President Bill Clinton did promise to release convicted spy Jonathon Pollard as part of the Wye River Memorandum that Israel and the Palestinians signed in 1998 -- but Clinton went back on his word at the last minute, said an Israeli insider who attended the Wye talks.
In his autobiography My Life , Clinton denied that he had ever promised to release Pollard, an American convicted of spying on behalf of Israel and sentenced to life in prison in 1987.
Pollard has served longer than any other person convicted of espionage on behalf of an ally with no intent to harm the U.S.; and he is the only person in U.S. history to have received a life sentence for spying for an ally.
Successive Israeli prime ministers have taken up the case with successive U.S. administrations in an attempt to obtain a pardon for Pollard, but to no avail.
In mid-October 1998, Clinton hosted a summit between Israel (led by then Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu) and the Palestinians )led by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat) at Wye River, Maryland.
According to Clinton, Netanyahu threatened that he would cancel the agreement if Clinton did not release Pollard.
According to Clinton, Netanyahu said that Clinton had promised in an earlier meeting to release Pollard, and that was why Netanyahu had accepted other conditions in the agreement.
But, Clinton wrote, the truth is that he had told Netanyahu that if the release of Pollard was necessary for him to make peace, then he would be inclined to do it and that he would check with his people.
Clinton said CIA Directory George Tenet and National Security Advisor Sandy Berger and others opposed the move - with Tenet threatening to quit -- so Clinton closed the door on the idea.
But one Israeli insider who attended the Wye River talks told CNSNews.com that Clinton had promised to release Pollard.
At 4:00 a.m. on the day of the signing, the Israeli delegation received a phone call saying there was "no deal," said the Israeli source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
It was part of the whole deal, but Clinton went back on his word, the source said.
The Israeli team then met again to decide if they would sign the agreement, the source added.
In a statement on the "Justice for Jonathon Pollard" website, Pollard himself blamed Israeli Minister Natan Sharansky's silence over the last six years for enabling Clinton "to revive all the old lies and canards about me in his new book."
Pollard said Sharansky, who was also an Israeli minister in attendance at Wye, had kept silent all these years about Clinton's promise to release him.
Promises, promises.
Even if his sentence is unjust or too long (of which I could easily be convinced), I have never understood why Israel cares about whether we release Pollard, an American being held in American prison. As in, why Clinton promising-to-release-Pollard would have made Netanyahu more agreeable to something or other, in the first place. Having a promise-to-release-Pollard on the table sweetens the pot of any deal for Israel because ____? So Netanyahu goes back to the Israeli people and says "yes I gave up the Golan Heights [or whatever] but hey, look on the bright side, I got the Americans to release Jonathan Pollard... doesn't that make you happy?" And the Israeli people cheer, and cheer..? *boggle*
There was a deal. I would never believe Clinton if he swore on a bible.......(sarcasm intended)
Of course Wilie made a deal to release Pollard. It is just that the Israelis were unwilling to pay Willie the price he wanted. Marc Rich was collecting Willie's Iraqi oil voucher money and was negotiating the price of his own pardon, so Willie was in big bucks already and was demanding an outrageous price for Pollard.
I think it's darned funny that Clinton can no longer surround himself with lying liars and that his lies in the book are undergoing challenges.
Why would Clinton promise to pardon or release Pollard? Everyone knows that Bill Clinton pardons are only for billionaire tax cheats who live in other countries or for terrorist groups like the FALN who blow up NYC and Chicago 130 times, or for drug dealers who give pay offs to Hellary Rodhams bloated brother.
Clinton lied?
Move on folks, nothing to see here...
Semper Fi
-PJ
As I understand it, Pollard was sentenced to life because the info he compromised ended up in Soviet hands and he knew it would. Maybe someone who has followed this story more closely than I can fill me in here.
Clinton has screwed the Jews so many times. When will they learn.
Considering Bibi is no friend of America, I hope this "annonymously sourced" story is true.
He screwed the Israelis, too.
I may buy this book -- and a yellow highlighter pen to mark all the lies.
I think you should make that a PACK of yellow highlighters!!
Get the book at the library.
Baaaaddd case of writers cramp. Just dunk the whole book in a bucket of yellow paint.
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