Netanyahu asks Obama to free Jonathan Pollard
The (Gloversville, N.Y.) Leader-Herald : Jonathan Pollard, an American citizen, has been imprisoned for 25 years after being convicted of spying against this country and passing national security secrets to Israel.
This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked President Barack Obama to approve clemency and release Pollard from prison.
Pollard, now 56, was turned away from the Israeli Embassy in Washington in 1985 with U.S. authorities close behind, The Associated Press reported. He was arrested and sentenced to life in prison.
In a letter to Obama, Netanyahu repeated Israeli apologies about the Pollard affair. “Its actions were wrong and unacceptable,” the letter said.
Netanyahu wrote that since Pollard has now spent 25 years in prison, “I believe that a new request for clemency is highly appropriate.”
The Pollard case embarrassed Israel and infuriated Washington.
Over the years, Israel has made appeals to the U.S. to release Pollard, but to no avail.
Israel was wrong in working with Pollard. But Pollard was criminally wrong to engage in spying — and should serve out his life sentence in prison.