In Letter to Obama, Pollard Implores President To Commute Sentence
Israeli President Shimon Peres handed President Obama a letter from Jonathan Pollard pleading for his release.
“I write to implore you, Mr. President, in the wake of numerous calls by senior American officials urging you to commute my sentence to time served, and in light of the official request by Prime Minister Netanyahu, to please send me home to Israel now, in time to celebrate my first Passover in freedom in 26 years,” said the April 1 letter, Pollard’s first direct communication with an American president.
The letter was first published in the Jerusalem Post on April 22 and was distributed April 23 by his supporters.
In the letter, Pollard expresses his remorse for the spying for Israel that earned him a life sentence in 1987, but also notes the recent swell in support for his release that includes a number of senior officials who were involved in his prosecution. He also suggests that his release could earn Obama political capital in Israel in his attempt to restart the peace process.
“My release in time to celebrate Passover at home in Israel with my beloved wife would be a welcome gesture of friendship to the Israeli people, an act of solidarity with a staunch and long-time ally of the United States, and a deeply compassionate and humane gift of life to my wife and me,” he said.
The role of Peres, who met with Obama earlier this month to advance the peace process, is consistent with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision last year to make Pollard’s clemency a high-profile cause.
Israeli leaders for years have been circumspect in their appeals on the spy’s behalf.
Also calling for Pollard’s release in time for Passover was Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), one of 39 Democrats in Congress who wrote Obama last year pressing for clemency.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO