Bush meets Israeli minister banned from US over spy case

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"US President George W. Bush on Thursday shook the hand of an Israeli minister barred from entering the United States over his role in a high-profile spy case at an official dinner party.

Bush, together with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and top White House officials all met with Pensioners Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan at a dinner party hosted by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in his Jerusalem residence, according to TV footage.

All the top ministers in Olmert's coalition government were also present at the event.

Olmert introduced Eitan to the president, although they were not shown talking. Eitan was then seen shaking hands with Rice alongside Defence Minister Ehud Barak.

The president will on Thursday end a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories aimed at boosting the Middle East peace talks that were relaunched last November.

Eitan, a member of Israel's security cabinet, was the old Mossad handler for Jonathan Pollard, an American Jew sentenced to life in prison for spying on Israel."

more



Pollard angry over Bush itinerary

<snip>

"Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard expressed outrage on Tuesday at the invitation that Pensioners Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan received to attend an important dinner with US President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday night.

Eitan served as Pollard's handler when he spied for Israel in the United States. Despite promises from Eitan to help him if he were caught, Pollard never received help from him, and he has been incarcerated in an American prison for some 23 years.

"I'm shocked and disgusted by the fact that Rafi Eitan is having dinner with the president," Pollard told The Jerusalem Post via his wife, Esther. "This is a man who should be in a jail cell at least until I get out, if not later. He was directly responsible for my abandonment, did everything he could to keep me in prison and said he regretted not killing me when he had the opportunity to do so."

Pollard referred to Eitan as "an unindicted coconspirator," who was one step away from being deemed a criminal in the United States. "This is not a man you bring into the presence of the president of the United States," Pollard said. "This is a man you put on ice until my case is over. Only in Israel can this happen, in a country where the big shots can get away with attempted murder."

more


Olmert stops talk of Pollard at meal

<snip>

"Prime Minister Ehud Olmert surprised participants at Thursday's working meal of Israeli ministers with US President George W. Bush when he said that it was not the appropriate occasion to discuss the
fate of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.

The meal was attended by eight ministers, the heads of the Mossad and Shin-Bet security services, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other top American officials. Olmert asked Bush to pardon Pollard when he met with the president on Wednesday, but he was turned down.

Pollard's wife Esther said she was disappointed that Olmert refrained from discussing her husband, because in Judaism redeeming captives defers any other issue. She said she was not impressed by Olmert raising the issue the day before either.

"That's not how a serious quest is made to secure the release of an Israeli agent in peril after 23 years in jail," Pollard said. "It's not something you casually bring up and then leak to the press. It reeks of a feeble attempt to discourage the massive public outcry for Jonathan's release. That's the best possible sign that the effort is succeeding and the Jewish people needs to redouble its efforts and press even harder to bring him home."

more

[Howardx]

1. his "home" is the us

in prison.

[xchrom]

2. quelle surprise.