Israel Wanted Convicted Spy Jonathan Pollard Freed in Peace Bargain
Image by getty images
Israel has requested the United States release Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard in return for freeing 103 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails since before the Oslo Accords, Channel 2 reported Monday evening.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly made the request to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry as a quid pro quo for the Palestinians’ demand that the prisoners be released before renewing peace talks. They Americans rejected the request but said it will be taken into consideration.
The Prime Minister’s Office said Netanyahu “has consistently brought up the issue of Jonathan Pollard’s release in his meetings with senior American officials.”
Pollard, a Jewish American, pleaded guilty in 1987 to passing classified information to Israel while working as an American civilian intelligence analyst. He received a life sentence.
Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres have approached U.S. President Barack Obama several times over the past four years to request he pardon Pollard. Until now, Obama has rejected the requests and stated that Pollard will receive a fair hearing in front of a parole committee review set to take place in 2015.
For more, go to Haaretz
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
