Ehud Olmert said he was "happy Jonathan Pollard has freedom of movement," but hopes that for Israel's sake, the convicted spy stays in New York.
The former prime minister made the remarks in an interview with the Maariv newspaper on Sunday.
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Pollard, a former civilian intelligence analyst for the US Navy, sold military secrets to Israel while working at the Pentagon in the 1980s. He was given a life sentence, and US defense and intelligence officials consistently argued against releasing Pollard. But after serving 30 years in federal prison, he was released on Nov. 20, 2015, and placed on parole. In a statement Friday, the US Parole Commission said it had ended Pollard's parole conditions after five years after finding "no evidence to conclude that he is likely to violate the law."
Pollard is expected to make aliyah to Israel once his wife Esther, who is currently undergoing medical treatment for cancer, is able to fly.
"There are very few, maybe five people who are as familiar with this affair as I am," Olmert told Maariv. "The reason being that I dealt with it in all of its incarnations, from participating in a commission of inquiry in the [Knesset's] Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee's Subcommittee on Secret Services in the 1980s, to other positions I held, including as prime minister."
He said, "I tried unsuccessfully to shorten his prison sentence. I also talked about it with President [George W.] Bush. The focus on this affair causes ongoing and difficult damage to the State of Israel. I suggest we avoid celebrating Pollard should he decide to come to Israel.
According to Olmert, "Removing the restrictions on freedom of movement was done not out of considerations that were taken into account up until now, but because America is almost in a very special period with a very special president and a very special atmosphere. There is an absolute breakdown there of the norms of conduct. At any other time, they wouldn't have allowed it."
Tremendous damage to strategic interests
Olmert claimed that Pollard's arrival in Israel "will intensify the damage the affair and our conduct within its framework caused us over the years. I am not free to speak about the most sensitive, substantial, and dangerous issues from the standpoint of Israeli strategy, unfortunately," he said.
The former prime minister also took Netanyahu to task.
"I see fit to say these things in the sharpest way possible because I see how the crook who now heads the government will try to make a big deal out of Pollard's arrival. He will welcome him the same way he welcomed [Hamas captive] Gilad Shalit. If he needs to, he'll give Hamas 500 killers to have Pollard …. I'm telling you that this affair, still today, has the potential to cause tremendous damage to strategic interests of the highest order."
Olmert asserted that senior US defense officials who will stay on when President-elect Joe Biden enters office "will settle the score if we continue to take advantage of this affair as we have been doing for internal Israeli political needs."
He said, "I prefer, with all due respect, for Pollard not to make aliyah. We don't owe him anything, sorry. He was an American spy who worked for a lot of money. This was not some Zionist volunteer who sacrificed his life."
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