Peres Vows To Press Obama on Jonathan Pollard Release
The Good Wife: Backdropped by a placard with an image of her convicted Israeli spy husband Jonathan, Esther Pollard speaks out on his behalf. Image by Getty Images
Outgoing Israeli President Shimon Peres said after meeting with Esther Pollard that on his U.S. trip, he will raise her request with American officials to free her imprisoned husband on humanitarian grounds.
Peres met Sunday with Esther Pollard and the heads of the Knesset Caucus to free Jonathan Pollard — lawmakers Nachman Shai and Ayelet Shaked — ahead of his trip this week to meet with President Obama and receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“It is a national responsibility to work to free Pollard; I will speak to the president of the United States on behalf of the people of Israel,” Peres said. “I intend to do this during my meetings in Congress and at the White House.”
Esther Pollard said she was grateful to Peres for receiving the group so close to his departure to the United States.
“Jonathan’s health has deteriorated and his situation is serious,” she said at the meeting, according to the Israeli President’s Office. “I hope that now, after 30 years, your request for his release will be heard.”
Pollard is in the 29th year of a life sentence in a U.S. federal prison for spying for Israel while working as a civilian Navy intelligence analyst.
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.
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.
