I took this photo a few months ago in central Jerusalem. From a distance, it looked like a routine Jerusalem moment: a friendly American Jew with a white beard and a slouch hat standing on the street, making small talk with a young couple.
Maybe he's their grandfather. Maybe an uncle. But when I got closer and realized who it was, my heart skipped a beat and I rushed to commemorate the historic occasion.
For decades we have wished and prayed for this moment, that Jonathan Ben Malka Pollard would stand on a street in Jerusalem between an electrical cabinet and a garbage collection container and chat kindly with a couple who were probably excited to meet him.
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It's not always worth meeting a hero in real life. It can be disappointing.
In Pollard's case, the opposite is true. There's something radiating about his personality. And it's so not obvious. A person in his situation, who's been through what he's been through, after thirty years in isolation under such difficult conditions, after all the severe restrictions in the United States in the years after his release, is supposed to be bitter, sullen, sad, turned off. I would completely understand if that was the Pollard who would have gotten off the plane.
The fact that he is even sane is not self-evident. But Pollard is not just a sane person - he is much more than that. When you stand in front of him, you feel something. Some greatness of spirit, gratitude, humility, faith and a few other illuminating things that are hard for me to define.
Taking this innocent, righteous Jew, after what he went through, and telling him stories that will eventually make him support Ayelet Shaked, is a dishonest act.
And I'll explain: In the past year, I had the opportunity to listen to Pollard at three events that I hosted: on Jerusalem Day at the Rabbinical Center, at the "Honorary Citizenship" ceremony held in his honor at the Samaria Regional Council, and at the memorial service on the thirtieth anniversary of the passing of his beloved wife Esther.
On all these occasions he spoke at length (perhaps even too long, but hey, he deserves it after decades of solitude). And I tell you after this acquaintance with the man, his opinions, his feelings, his beliefs: There is no way that if he really knew who Ayelet Shaked was and what she was doing, he would have supported her. In fact, he would probably have criticized her in harsh words.
Exactly what actually happened, when Pollard realized who she was, after a few hours.
So it's true, politicians - from all parties - are known for their cynicism. But sending a camera crew from Shaked's party to Pollard and making a mockery of him, while taking advantage of his good faith, goes far beyond the cynicism accepted in the industry. "Because of my endless love for the country and my dedication to its survival and future," he reads in English, "I now call for a vote for the man
"I know that she will serve the State of Israel in a way that will preserve both its vital interests and its dignity - and that person is Ayelet Shaked.".
Yes, of course, who will protect the interests of the State of Israel and its honor if not Ayelet Shaked, who, contrary to all her promises, formed a government with Israel's Arab enemies and the extreme minority of the left, just so that Bennett could be prime minister? Well, that's probably why Pollard's next paragraph comes in: "Yes, she didn't show loyalty in the previous government, but...
"I believe with all my heart that she understands that mistakes were made by her and that she will not repeat them. We need her now, free and clean from all the bad influences that have harmed her personally and politically. We all make mistakes. The difference is between those of us who refuse to acknowledge those mistakes and those of us who acknowledge the mistakes and insist that they not be repeated.".
Who worked so well on Pollard, the innocent immigrant? After all, Ayelet Shaked has not apologized for the "mistakes" (what a modest definition of the serious actions she committed).
I personally think that even if she had apologized, it wouldn't have been appropriate to forgive her so quickly, but she saved us the dilemma because she never apologized. In fact, she's still in this government.
And here comes the closing sentence: "I believe that Ayelet Shaked is such a person. She deserves the opportunity to continue to be part of the Israeli leadership, and in this difficult and dangerous period in our history we need and deserve a proven patriot like Ayelet Shaked.".
Okay, I was really laughing out loud here: proven patriot. Interesting definition.
Look, I'm not writing this out of concern that Pollard's support will give Shaked the tens of thousands of votes she needs to pass the threshold. That won't happen, because I don't think the beloved and respected Pollard has any political influence on people. By the way, even if a party he truly believes in (assuming there's a party that's right-wing enough for him) were to recruit him for the campaign, that would be jarring to me.
Why bring Israel's beloved hero into the political fray? His place is in projects like the Ramat Gan Yeshiva's "With All Your Heart" conference for the service of God, where he appeared last summer and strengthened the thousands. Absolutely not in the political world.
And indeed, that same day, Pollard also realized that she had been misled. He announced that he was withdrawing his support. The very wording of his announcement indicates to what extent he did not exactly understand what was happening here from the start: "It has become clear to me that Shaked refuses to make necessary changes to her list and remove Yoaz Hendel from the list, and also refuses to commit that she will only join a right-wing government that will preserve the Jewish identity of the country. This raises real concerns that she will once again shift votes from the right to the left. Therefore, I am withdrawing my support for her.".
Then Shaked issued the following statement, proving that it is always possible to stoop lower: "The poison machine that was directed at him from the moment he announced his support for me put Jonathan in an impossible situation, and I am glad that he removed himself from the eye of the storm.".
Do you understand? "The poison machine," as Shaked calls us, to all who are in pain and protest the establishment of the government of the extreme left and the Arabs by it. She has not only switched to supporting the left, but
Adopts his silencing discourse against the right. Discourse that she suffered from for years, in her previous incarnation, as a right-wing woman.
But Shaked wasn't satisfied with that: "An Israeli hero like Jonathan," she added, "deserves to be at the heart of the consensus and not become a target in the toxic discourse of Israeli politics. As I have said from every platform in recent weeks - only together will we win, this is the secret of the strength of the people of Israel.".
Wow. What did we have here in less than a day? She (or her people) also brought Pollard into the political cauldron with her own hands, cynically, for her own personal interests, with all kinds of lies (that were discovered), she also attacks those who criticized the act and tries to silence them, and she also calls for unity because it is the secret of the strength of the people of Israel. Indeed, a proven patriot.
