Would Giuliani free Pollard?
Bakehilla, a local Hebrew weekly (no web site) reports that New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind claims to have had a conversation with Republican frontrunner Rudolph Giuliani in which Giuliani promised him that if elected, he will 'use all of his efforts' to free Jonathan Pollard, who has been in an American jail for more than twenty years for spying for Israel. A close friend of Hikind's told Bakehilla that he has 'no doubt' that Giuliani will keep his word. Hikind plans to seek a similar commitment from Hillary Clinton.But some activists have expressed doubt whether Giuiliani will be able to keep his commitment saying that it does not depend solely on him.
As many of you may recall, one of the reasons that Binyamin Netanyahu signed the Why Why Wye agreement was that then-President Bill Clinton committed to release Jonathan Pollard in return for Netanyahu signing the agreement. Clinton broke his promise when then-CIA director George Tenet threatened to resign if Pollard was released.
The bottom line is that if he wants to keep a commitment to release Pollard, Giuliani - or for that matter whoever else is elected President - can just pardon him. And they doesn't have to wait until their last month in office to do it.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:25 PM
4 Comments:
but i thought bush was going to do it? was bush the "best" and "greatest" friends israel ever had?
the sad fact is that theres more to this story than any of us will ever know, and surely rudy when if he becomes president will become privy to that infop aas well and then have to hange his tune.
"the sad fact is that theres more to this story than any of us will ever know"
Are you suggesting Pollard knows something and can't be released? Or was his crime much greater than publically known and his imprisionment serves asa deterrant?
Or because people like Peres were involved, its used as a threat against them to affect Israeli policy.
Perhaps Rudy can spin a pardon by saying His Slickness had already approved it
I love Giuliani but he's a politician and like all politician's he will tell you what you want to hear (maybe not as much as others) I just don't see any President helping out in that capacity
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