INVITATION: Israeli Spy Jonathan Pollard, Dec 7th, FREE

Tel Aviv International Salon, presents:

Israeli Spy Jonathan Pollard

In-English Talk + Q&A & Wine

RSVP: Above on Eventbrite

Cost: FREE

Date: Wednesday December 7th 2022, 7pm

Venue: Social Space, Kikar Atarim, Tel Aviv (end of Ben Gurion Blvd over the beach)

Who: Young adults from all over Israel & the globe, 20s & 30s Only

(Note this event is off-the-record to the press & recording)

About Our Speaker: Jonathan Pollard

Jonathan Pollard is one of Israel's most high profile spies. He was born in 1954 in Galveston, Texas and became an American civilian defense analyst. Pollard was ultimately sentenced by the U.S. to life imprisonment in 1987 for having obtained classified information for Israel. Pollard denied spying “against” the United States. He said he provided only information he believed was vital to Israeli security and was being withheld by the Pentagon. This included data on Soviet arms shipments to Syria, Iraqi and Syrian chemical weapons, the Pakistani atomic bomb project and Libyan air defense systems. He is also gave Israel important satellite photos of the PLO headquarters in Tunis, which Israel later used to prepare airstrikes. A 1987 CIA document declassified in 2012 stated that Pollard’s disclosures to Israel were strictly about their neighboring countries and “excluded US military activities, plans, capabilities, or equipment.”

Pollard graduated from Stanford University in 1976 with a degree in international relations. In 1979, when he worked at the Navy Field Operational Intelligence Office in Maryland. In 1984 he was assigned to the U.S. Navy’s Anti-Terrorist Alert Center. With access to all government documents that could help with his job, he contacted officials at the Israeli embassy who were connected to Israel’s Bureau of Scientific Relations. Pollard began to supply Israel with boxes and suitcases full of information from the Departments of State, Defense, and Justice, the CIA, and the National Security Agency. On October 25, 1985, he was seen carrying a large bundle from his office to his wife’s car and was placed under surveillance. On November 21, 1985 he was arrested outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, where he and his wife had gone in hope of asylum; his wife was arrested the next day.

Pollard pleaded guilty to having conveyed classified information to a foreign state and cooperated with U.S. investigators. Nevertheless, in March 1987 he was given the maximum sentence of life in prison. His wife was sentenced to five years. At sentencing, Pollard claimed to have been motivated by “sectarianism,” though Israeli agents had agreed to pay him $30,000 each year for a period of 10 years and had already paid him more than $45,000. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger wrote to the judge that Pollard had seriously compromised national security. Alan Dershowitz has argued that Pollard’s sentence was far greater than the average term imposed for spying for the Soviet Union and other enemies of the United States.

Pollard entered the U.S. federal prison system in Marion, Illinois, and then was transferred to Butler, North Carolina. Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres apologized for Pollard’s activities and dissolved the scientific intelligence agency that had worked with him. In 1996 the State of Israel granted Pollard citizenship. In 1998 PM Netanyahu requested clemency for Pollard during Middle East peace talks at the Wye Plantation. Numerous pro-Israel groups continued to call for Pollard’s release from prison, as did Israeli officials and government leaders. In 2015 he was granted parole, and on November 20 he was let out of prison. As part of the conditions for his release, Pollard was barred from leaving the United States for five years. After completing his parole, he moved to Israel in December 2020. Pollard is recently newly remarried and living in Jerusalem. He is currently leading a campaign to establish a Jewish children's educational center in Tel Aviv in honor of his deceased wife Esther, whom worked 30 years to help secure his release from prison.

About Our Organization: Tel Aviv International Salon

Tel Aviv International Salon is the largest speakers forum in Israel. Our nonprofit was established in 2009 to provide a thought provoking nonpartisan platform for Tel Aviv's young adult community. The Salon curates a unique space to debate and discuss global politics, history, economics, social and cultural issues with a diverse range of engaging decision makers and influencers. We are honest brokers working hard to highlight the leading voices leading Israel and the world.

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