Pollard Freed!

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Shabbat

5 Kislev 5781

November 21, 2020

Graphic of the Morning

What you are looking at is tracking of a US B-52 over the Mediterranean this morning.

This could mean nothing–the B 52 could be flying almost anywhere there is a US AFB. However, the fact that it is coming this way has produced a plethora of comments in social media concerning the possibility that something is afoot vis a vis the US/Israel and Iran. 

The News On The Israeli Street

Palestinian terror in the last 24 hours . . .

Palestinian terrorists attacked a bus at Al Aruv shattering the windshield and passenger windows. A number of people on the bus had to be treated for trauma.

Palestinian terrorists using Molotovs attacked the IDF post between Kiryat Arba and Hevron.

Palestinian terrorist using “rocks” and Molotovs assaulted Israeli motorists at Givat Assaf, Beit Omer, Luban A-Sharqiya, Tekoa, and at numerous places in Gush Etzion.

The “daily” Corona (Covid-19) update . . .

The following covers the last 24 hours (from 8 am yesterday until 8 am today):

There are 327,748 confirmed cases—an increase of 699

318 are in critical condition—an increase of  9

123 of the most critically ill are on ventilators—a decrease of 4

2,744 have died–an increase of 2

There are currently 8,640 active Corona cases in Israel.

Active cases continue to climb just as deaths have stabilized at fewer than 5 per day.

Extreme weather continues . . .

MADA paramedics rescued a number of people from flooded apartments in Rishon LeZion, Nex Ziona, and Tel Aviv this morning following intense thunderstorms overnight.

Some photos from the last 12 hours:

Crazy lightning bolts over Lod early this morning. Hundreds of lightning strikes have been reported in central and southern Israel.

The sky this morning at 9 am in Bnei Brak:

Black as night yet a rainbow trying to creep through.

The aftermath of last nights torrential rains in Nes Ziona:

One of the main streets in the city–a scene repeated in many other cities this morning.

TODAY’S BLOG:

Pollard Freed!

Jonathan Pollard: finally a totally free man.

The dramatic announcement came late yesterday from US Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole Navas Oxman:

“After a review of Mr. Pollard’s case, the U.S. Parole Commission has found that there is no evidence to conclude that he is likely to violate the law. Thus, in accordance with the statute, the commission has ordered that, as of today, his parole supervision is terminated and he is no longer subject to the conditions of parole.”

This was followed by a long statement from Pollard’s lawyers (bolding mine):

Mr. Pollard is no longer subject to a curfew, is no longer prohibited from working for a company that does not have U.S. government monitoring software on its computer systems, is no longer required to wear a wrist monitor that tracks his whereabouts, and is free to travel anywhere, including Israel, for temporary or permanent residence, as he wishes.

During the past five years, since his release on parole from federal prison, Mr. Pollard has been subject to these U.S. government restrictions.  We are grateful and delighted that our client is finally free of any restrictions, and is now a free man in all respects.  We look forward to seeing our client in Israel.

Mr. Pollard was released on parole November 21, 2015.  He had been in prison since November 21, 1985, serving a sentence of life in prison for conspiracy to deliver classified information to the State of Israel.

Over the past several months, we have communicated with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Parole Commission, emphasizing that Mr. Pollard has had an exemplary record, both as a prisoner and as a parolee, and that there is every reason for confidence that he will be a model citizen after his parole restrictions are lifted.

Mr. Pollard has asked us to communicate the following on his behalf:

• Pollard is happy to finally be able to assist his beloved wife Esther, who is fighting an aggressive form of cancer. Mr. Pollard would like people to know that it was his wife, more than anyone else, who kept him alive during all the years he was in prison.
• Pollard is deeply grateful to his longstanding pro bono lawyers Eliot Lauer and Jacques Semmelman, and their law firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP, who have stood by him for so many years, and whose perseverance, creativity, and forceful advocacy were instrumental in securing his release from prison on parole, and the lifting of the parole restrictions.
• Pollard is also extremely thankful to Rabbi Pesach Lerner, who has worked tirelessly for many years on Mr. Pollard’s behalf, and to the generous contributors who have assisted financially during the past five years, as the U.S. government placed insurmountable impediments on Mr. Pollard’s ability to earn a living.
• Pollard expresses appreciation and gratitude to Ambassador Ron Dermer, acting under the auspices of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for their efforts on his behalf.
• Pollard thanks Dov Friedberg for his longstanding support and friendship; Israeli attorneys Larry Dub and Nitsana Dirshan-Leitner for their devoted pro bono representation over many years; and Adi Ginsberg, Rabbi Asher Mivtzari, and all the volunteers under their direction for their unrelenting work in Israel on Mr. Pollard’s behalf.
• Pollard expresses his deepest respect and heartfelt thanks to the late Chief Rabbi, His Honor Rav Mordechai Eliyahu zt”l, and to his entire family, as well as to his Chief of Staff Rav Chaim Suissa, for providing spiritual guidance and strength to Jonathan and Esther Pollard from the outset of the case, and whose friendship remains strong and vibrant.
• Pollard is deeply grateful to so many others in the U.S., Israel, and around the world who have helped devotedly. They are too numerous to mention by name, but they include: Andrew Brooke, Goldi Steiner, Risha Balter and Nomi Winkler of Toronto; Bella Amiram and Naomi Knobel of Jerusalem; and in the U.S., the late Chaim Stern, attorneys Kenneth Lasson and Gary Apfel, and the late Judge George Leighton.  Finally, Mr. Pollard thanks all people of good will who have kept him in their prayers and hoped for this day.

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So does the saga of Jonathan Pollard hopefully come to an end.

Jonathan Pollard:

—a man who was providing critical information to Israel that the US should have been providing itself

—a man who was arrested after being thrown under the bus by Shimon Peres who denied him entry at the gates of the Israeli Embassy where he was seeking refuge

—a man who thought he had made a plea deal only to have it taken away from him by President Reagan’s anti-Semitic Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger

—a man who was inexplicably given a life sentence (the only life sentence ever given to a person accused of spying for an US ally) and served 30 years of it

—and a man who had to live the last 5 years under the harshest of “free” conditions.

Jonathan Pollard is a heroic patriot, and we at OneIsrael hope that we soon see him here in Israel!