Pollard's release an indecent proposal
Op-ed: Deal securing Israeli spy's release will set Palestinian murderers free, keep 'peace process' going solely for the sake of appearances.
The only person who can take some satisfaction in this deal is President Barack Obama. He will get the Jewish people excited by releasing Pollard, hooking an inexistent peace process up to life support, give his secretary of state a little more rope to play with, and will not be forced to deal with a Palestinian appeal to the UN instead of a peace process – which would require an American veto at the Security Council at a time when there is very little dialogue with Russia or China.
Superficially, the American proposal appears logical: Pollard, a spy who betrayed the US, has served almost 30 years and should be up for parole in late 2015. In other words, this American concession means nothing, definitely compared to the late 1990s when Netanyahu was convinced that he had persuaded President Clinton to agree to Pollard's release in order to continue the peace process. Clinton backed out at the last minute after then-CIA chief George Tenet threatened to resign if the spy were set free.
If the talks go up in smoke this time, it will be considered an American failure, as Kerry has placed a lot of prestige, energy and diplomatic capital on the process. So as far as the Americans are concerned, there may be an Israeli bluff here, but not one which puts any American interest in danger.
The prisoner release proposal is indecent and worthless: Pollard will be freed, Palestinian murderers will be released from prison and a "peace process" that no one believes in will continue for the sake of appearance.
So who stands to gain from all of this? No one. It's a circular deal lacking any political logic, because the right-wing camp may see Pollard as a sort of Nelson Mandela – but opposes the release of murderers.
The deal lacks any diplomatic purpose and hope. It is also morally indecent towards the families of terror victims whose world has been shattered, towards Israeli citizens who still see Benjamin Netanyahu as a man of principles fighting terror fearlessly and uncompromisingly (as you may recall, he released 1,027 prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit), and towards Secretary of State John Kerry, who is deluding himself that he is running a peace process.
And finally, the deal is also indecent towards the Palestinians themselves, who may feel misled by the fact that they are being forced into a "peace process" with no chance or future in exchange for nothing with real value.
Alon Pinkas served as Israel's consul-general in New York
