Washington – Former United States secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld stated on Monday that releasing Jonathan Pollard is a bad idea, following rumors regarding the possibility that the former Israeli spy will be released early from a life sentence.
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“Releasing Pollard was a bad idea in 1998 and 2001. It is not a better idea today,” tweeted Rumsfeld, along with a copy of the letters he sent to former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush while serving as secretary of defense.
In an earlier tweet Rumsfeld wrote, “Releasing spy Jonathan Pollard doesn’t make the #IranDeal any less of a disaster for Israel and the free world,” suggesting that Pollard’s possible release and the Iran deal are directly related.
US officials have rejected the notion that Pollard’s release would have anything to do with trying to smooth tense relations with Israel over President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fiercely opposes.
Successive Israeli governments have appealed for Pollard’s release, which would be hugely popular in Israel, but US presidents have always resisted. Pollard, 60, was convicted in 1987 of spying for Israel and sentenced to a life term.
he should rot!!!
Why anyone would listen to the Secretary of Defense who was responsible for the disaster called the Iraq War on anything is beyond me.
Correct, it doesn’t make the Iran deal any less dangerous, but it should be done because it’s the right thing to FINALLY do!
Pollard is a thief, a liar, a fraud, a traitor and a master manipulator.
Why are people so quick to turn him into a martyr. You are all aware that the evidence used to convict him also showed that intelligence he stole ended up in the hands of the Russian government (they couldn’t prove how he did it). He sold intelligence to South Africa and China and on more than one occasion tried to sell intelligence to Pakistan. This wasn’t some great man trying to help Israel, or Jews or anything else. He is an opportunistic THIEF and traitor who should reminded daily of the chillul H” he created that Jews around the US are still paying for.
He is being treated like a martyr and a hero. This is very dangerous and it will be rightfully used by antisemitic groups to attack us. It won’t be false propaganda either… it will be truthful. This man has brought us nothing but pain. He should go live out his days carrying his shame and disgrace in a cave somewhere and never be seen or heard from in public again.