Breaking the silence: In a rare public statement, Jonathan Pollard, the convicted Israeli spy imprisoned in the U.S. since 1985, issued harsh criticism on Friday of the conduct of Israeli leaders over the course of the country's history.
In a Jerusalem Post op-ed, Pollard said, "Israel is the only country in the world ever to voluntarily expel its own citizens from chunks of its homeland in order to hand over the land to its enemies. It is the only country in the world ever to voluntarily destroy the homes and businesses of its own citizens, leaving them with shattered lives and broken promises."
Pollard also referred to his own situation, saying Israel "holds unenviable world records for betraying those who serve the state."
"Israel also remains the only country in the world ever to voluntarily cooperate in the prosecution of its own intelligence agent, refusing him sanctuary, turning over the documents to incriminate him, denying that the state knew him, and then allowing him to rot in a foreign prison for decades on end, cravenly forgoing its right to simple justice for the nation and for the agent," Pollard said.
Pollard condemned the release of Palestinian prisoners, saying, "A sovereign state which is capable of dishonoring its dead by freeing their murderers and tormenting their bereaved loved ones has, in essence, discarded all of the moral underpinnings of its own existence."
Pollard called the 26 Palestinian prisoners Israel released earlier this week "some of the worst murderers and terrorists the world has ever seen."
"The blood of their victims cries out from the grave at this affront to human decency," Pollard said.
"Their cries go unheard. The bereaved families of the victims beg and plead not to free the savage murderers of their loved ones. Their entreaties are ignored.
"All the polls indicate that the overwhelming majority of Israeli citizens are opposed to the release of the murderers. It is a strange kind of democracy that pays no heed whatsoever to the will of the people."
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