Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: New diplomatic scam to make Pollard a ‘legitimate’ spy

Wednesday, June 10, 1998 | 11:29 a.m.

HERE WE GO AGAIN! Israel has brought up the Jonathan Pollard matter again and has now told us that he was an Israeli agent. This action, coming after 13 years of trying to get the traitor released from prison, where he was sent for selling secrets to Israeli agents. Always, they denied he was an agent for Israel. Every other angle was used until three years ago when Israel declared him a citizen of that country. This was done as a method to have him returned "home" for spying on a friendly country for a friendly country.

Pollard was a trusted U.S. Navy intelligence analyst who received $50,000 spying for Israel. This was for the love of Israel, a country he had never entered to help during any time of its many wars? I can't buy that, nor can I buy into this latest bit of nonsense.

Along with this has been the campaign in Israel declaring Citizen Pollard a hero. If a man born and raised an American sells his country's secrets from a position of trust is a hero, then we had better redefine the meaning of the words hero, bravery and valor.

Men who do deserve this honor are not few in number. The names of Mickey Marcus and Danny Grossman come to mind. Marcus was first a decorated American hero during World War II and, later, the West Point graduate died when accidentally shot by an Israeli soldier during the 1948 war for independence.

Lt. Col. Danny Grossman will retire this year from the Israel Air Force. This U.S. Air Force Academy graduate completed his six-year obligation to the USAF and then went to live and fly jets for the IAF. He has performed several hot missions and is the first American-trained airman to receive the IAF Commander's Air Medal.

Grossman and Marcus are truly heroes. Pollard is nothing more than a sidewinder, no matter how you slice the baloney that he and now some Israeli diplomats want us to swallow.

There are some legitimate arguments for Pollard being released and shipped to Israel. He has already served more time than any other friendly-nation spy has served after being caught by the U.S. However, Steven Lalas, convicted of spying for Greece in 1993, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. This still isn't close to the life term given Pollard.

In 1995, when Israel declared Pollard a citizen, Charley Levine wrote in the Jerusalem Post: "Clinton must be aware that many American Jewish voters care about Jonathan Pollard. The Jewish vote is not in his pocket. If American Jewish supporters only play their part, the U.S. intelligence community, which still demonizes and fears Pollard, will not be the only voice heard on this important issue." That's right, one year before Clinton's bid for re-election came this less-than-subtle political threat. Levine probably figured that more than enough Americans get involved in Israel's politics and turnabout is fair play.

The political threat didn't work in 1995, but this evidently didn't teach the defenders of Pollard and the Jerusalem Post much. A couple of weeks ago, after declaring Pollard a "legitimate" spy for Israel, the Post editorialized again. Like the prior editorial, the content was very good, but it couldn't stay away from making another move into American politics, when saying: "On the other hand, the indications are that Washington wants to put the Pollard affair behind it. He has been in jail since 1985 and his intelligence information is clearly dated. There is also pressure for his release from American Jewish leaders, who could help Vice President Al Gore win Jewish support for his presidential campaign in 2000."

This latest combination of chutzpah and ignorance of the American political psyche might sound good to some people, but Pollard defenders had better hope it doesn't get too much coverage in the U.S. It has raised my interest in the case. I was working in Israel when Pollard was first apprehended and it was a time of great embarrassment for my friends in the Israeli Defense Forces. The tactics used to get him released for the past several years have only added to that embarrassment.

What would be even more interesting is learning if Speaker Newt Gingrich, our self-styled foreign policy wonk, discussed the Pollard situation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he was making his latest foray into the Middle East. They agreed on everything else, how about releasing Pollard?