Robert Wexler, one of President Obama’s closest Jewish confidantes, urged him to release Jonathan Pollard.

The July 25 letter from Wexler, a former Democratic congressman from Florida, was released Friday by advocates for clemency for the imprisoned spy for Israel.

One of a recent flood of appeals from Congress members and former government officials, Wexler’s appeal is significant because it is the first to come from within Obama’s coterie.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Wexler, who now directs the Center for Middle East Peace, was the Obama campaign’s chief Jewish proxy in the 2008 election and remains close to the White House.

“Mr. Pollard is the only person in U.S. history to receive a life sentence for disclosing classified information to an American ally,” Wexler writes. “Having spent over 25 years in incarceration, seven of which were spent in solitary confinement, and having expressed remorse for his crimes, it is my humble opinion that Mr. Pollard has served sufficient time – both in terms of punishment for his crimes and in terms of deterrence to would-be perpetrators.”

Pollard, arrested in 1985, was convicted and sentenced to life in 1987 for spying for Israel. He recently successfully underwent kidney-related surgery.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

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. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount