Mitt Romney

Sheldon Adelson, the American Jewish billionaire and close friend of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has asked Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to publicly demand the release of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, according to The Daily Beast.

Mitt Romney

Romney refused the request, saying he “could not consider the Pollard situation because he doesn’t have access to the classified information,” the report said, quoting an unnamed source.

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According the report, Romney has also refused other Israel-related requests from Adelson, who reportedly also asked Romney to state that the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are a waste of time because the Palestinians are unwilling to make peace, and also to make a firm commitment to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

The Daily Beast report, which was based on information received from a Republican donor and associates of both Adelson and Romney, seems to be aimed at demonstrating that Romney is not controlled by Adelson, even though the latter has already donated tens of millions of dollars to Romney’s campaign. These donations have generated substantial criticism, given Adelson’s right-wing views regarding the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

For more, go to Haaretz.com

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