Dennis Ross

Submitted by alan fleck (Israel), Nov 13, 2008 at 03:11

I find it very surprising that Dennis Ross is on your board of editors.

I found the following quote on the internet:

Ross' unabashed account of how he was instrumental in preventing the release of Jonathan Pollard at Wye is stunning. Ross admits that President Clinton was less than candid on a number of issues including Pollard, but that he, Ross, did not press the President and took at face value the President's assertion that he had not made an explicit promise to free Pollard- a fact contradicted by all of Israel's key negotiators at Wye including Prime Minster Bibi Netanyahu. Ross also took at face value the President's assertion that the release of Palestinian prisoners with blood on their hands would go through with only minor modification even though he had reneged on freeing Pollard. Ross concedes that if he had pressed the President for the truth he might have found out otherwise and the ensuing diplomatic crisis over the issue might have been prevented, but he chose not to press.

Perhaps most stunning of all, Ross writes that even though he believes that Jonathan Pollard's life sentence is disproportionate and that Pollard deserves to go free unconditionally, but he still strongly advised the President not to free him. Why? Because Pollard, Ross explains, is far too valuable as a bargaining chip with Israel, to be released as a matter of simple justice. No other American ally has ever been treated with such disdain. No other "friendly" country has been subjected to outright political extortion to secure the release of an agent. Even more shocking than Ross' open admission that Pollard is essentially being held for political ransom, is that since the book was published in the summer of 2004, there has been not a word of protest over the callous injustice to Jonathan Pollard or the unfair treatment of Israel in this regard, by either Israel or the American Jewish leadership.

I think this shows a mean spirit on the part of Mr. Ross. Pollard certainly should not have done what he did, but that does not excuse Mr. Ross for being so nasty. This is especially true since I think Mr. Ross is Jewish & is basically torturing a fellow Jew. In addition, Mr. Ross negociated the various deals between Israel & the Arabs which were resbonsible for the death of 1500 Jews & countless Arabs. I wonder what Mr. Ross thinks of Neville Chamberlain's diplomatic work for the sake of peace, & I wonder how he can sleep at night.

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