Peres Asks Obama to Free Pollard
March 5, 2012President Shimon Peres formally asked US President Barack Obama to release Jonathan Pollard during their meeting at the White House on Sunday.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was also expected to request Pollard’s release during his meeting with Obama on Monday, his office reported.
Netanyahu officially asked Obama to commute Pollard’s life sentence to time served in January 2011. Since then, Obama has not responded.
Pollard’s wife Esther asked Obama in a letter to send her husband home with Netanyahu.
“Jonathan’s release, Mr. President, will be a real medal of freedom for us and for all of Israel!” she said, noting the award Obama intends to give Peres. “Please send Jonathan home with Mr. Netanyahu.”
Two senior American Jewish leaders met with Pollard in January in what sources close to Pollard said would be the first of a series of meetings of top Jewish leaders with the imprisoned spy.
Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst for the US Navy, has been serving a life sentence since 1987 for one count of conspiracy to deliver national security information to a foreign government.
Pollard told Wolf Blitzer that year that he provided Israel with satellite photography of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) headquarters in Tunisia, specific capabilities of Libya’s air defenses, and “the pick of U.S. intelligence about Arab and Islamic conventional and unconventional military activity.”
Other’s convicted of the same crime, including those who pass intelligence data to hostile nations, have been given average sentences of 7 years or less in prison.
Israel granted Pollard citizenship in 1995, but denies he was an Israeli agent. In 1998, Israeli officials said Pollard had worked for an “unauthorized rogue operation.”
The disparity of Pollard’s sentence with those of others convicted of the same crime has turned his lengthy incarceration into an issue for American Jewry.
Jewish and Israeli leaders have been joined by numerous US officials and lawmakers in calling for Pollard’s release.
In 2010 representatives Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) and Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) wrote a letter which “notes the positive impact that a grant of clemency would have in Israel, as a strong indication of the goodwill of our nation towards Israel and the Israeli people.”
On November 18, 2010, 39 members of Congress submitted a Plea Of Clemency to the White House on behalf of Pollard, asking the president for his immediate release.
“Such an exercise of the clemency power would not in any way imply doubt about his guilt, nor cast any aspersions on the process by which he was convicted,” they wrote.
Former CIA director James Woolsey has also endorsed Pollard’s release on two conditions: that he show contrition and decline any profits from books or other projects linked to the case.
Similar posts
-
The Amazing Country of Israel
September 15, 2023Introduction Nestled in the heart of the Middle East, Israel is a nation with a remarkable histo...
-
Israel Safeguards The World From Terror Attacks
August 23, 2023Introduction In an era where terrorism poses a significant threat to global security, Israel sta...
-
Israel Helps The World With Water Recycling
August 10, 2023Introduction In a world grappling with the challenges of water scarcity and resource management,...
-
Israel's Remarkable Female Soldiers
July 26, 2023Introduction When we think of the Israeli military, we often conjure up images of well-trained s...
-
About Gal Gadot's Cleopatra Movie
July 18, 2023By Katy Rath Gal Gadot's new Cleopatra movie has been steeped in both anticipation and controver...
-
Israel Empowers The World Through Innovation
July 10, 2023BY: SOLVE ISRAEL'S PROBLEMS Introduction:In recent years, Israel has emerged as a global powerho...
-
The Jerusalem Embassy, 5 Years Later
May 22, 2023By Nikki Haley On May 14, 2018, something incredible happened. The United States...
-
Israel's Fauda Top TV Show in Arab Countries
February 1, 2023Even some Arab countries without diplomatic relations with Israel are hooked on the action-packed d...
