Washington – Israeli President to Pressure Obama to Free Pollard

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    AP file photo of U.S. President Barack Obama meets with President Shimon Peres in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, April 5, 2011.Washington – Efforts to persuade US President Barack Obama to commute the sentence of Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard intensified over the weekend as President Shimon Peres arrived in Washington to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Obama.

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    The award will be presented on Wednesday at a gala event that may have been intended to paint Obama as a friend of Israel. But that strategy could backfire if Peres receives a freedom medal while Pollard remains in prison.

    Related:
    Peres: I’ll do ‘everything possible’ to free Pollard
    Nearly 70,000 people have signed a petition calling upon Peres to do everything possible to bring about Pollard’s release on his trip to Washington. The petition drive began two months ago and has attracted support from across Israel and around the world.

    The latest Israeli celebrities to sign the petition were former president Yitzhak Navon, Nobel Prize laureates Dan Shechtman and Aaron Ciechanover, singers Shlomo Artzi and Yehoram Gaon, actress Gila Almagor and leftist authors Amos Oz, David Grossman, and A.B. Yehoshua.

    Navon’s name is especially significant because he will attend Peres’s ceremony in Washington, as will former US secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, who have written Obama about Pollard.

    “Due to the superior values the medal represents, we feel we cannot reconcile you receiving it when the United States is still holding Pollard in prison,” the petition states.

    “We ask you to take advantage of your unprecedented diplomatic standing in order to work for Jonathan’s immediate release before you are given the medal. Otherwise, receiving the medal would make a mockery of Israel.”

    Pollard is serving the life sentence he was given 26 and a half years ago for passing classified information to an ally. Obama has not responded to Peres’s formal request to commute Pollard’s sentence to time served.

    The organizers of the petition have stressed that they were not asking Peres to condition receiving the medal on Pollard’s freedom.

    Posters were hung near the President’s Residence before Peres left bearing the message “President Peres: Save Pollard’s life.”

    Content is provided courtesy of the Jerusalem Post


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    22 Comments
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    qazxc
    qazxc
    11 years ago

    Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton and Bush Jr. Refused to pardon him.

    Why would Obama stick his neck out? You think he is any less of a politician than the previous president?

    R”L, in all likelihood Pollard will live out his days in prison or unless he goes thru the parole process and expresses regret for his actions.

    alterknaker
    alterknaker
    11 years ago

    Don’t waste your time Mr. Peres, your intention is good but forget it,

    11 years ago

    Obama won’t do a thing to commute Pollard’s sentence to time served. He knows that he has about 65% of the Jewish vote in his pocket, so why should he? Besides, he knows that Pollard is a bargaining chip to be used to pressure EY, in the future . Regarding Shimon Peres, he was Prime Minister in a coalition government in 1985, at the time of the Pollard matter. If all of the documents which Washington wanted had been returned, and Aviem Sella had returned to face justice, Pollard might have been released a long time ago.

    speakup
    speakup
    11 years ago

    It’s actually very simple. I will vote for Obama if he commutes Pollard’s sentence. So will my friends – we feel the same way about Pollard’s situation, and how detrimental to his health it would be to keep him imprisoned. If Obama shows compassion to Pollard, I’ll certainly find it in my heart to vote for him, despite my misgivings about his economic policies. It’s really as simple as that.

    speakup
    speakup
    11 years ago

    (Reply to #6 ): I may be a simpleton, but most of my family (immediate and extended), as well as numerous friends and colleagues, feel the same way as I do. Are we all simpletons? Or do we recognize a deeper truth, something that you, #6 , have clearly closed your heart to? You see, we’re not anti-Obama. We’ve just lost our enthusiasm for him. He hasn’t inspired me for awhile. Nor has he inspired my relatives and members of my community in the past two years. If he were to do something that required a bit of moxie, a bit of courage, and, of course, a large dose of compassion, I would feel inspired. That would tip me over the edge, and it would work magic on many, many people. You, # 6, will continue to focus on Obama the Bad. You can’t help it. But I have faith, #6 , I have faith…….

    ABRAMO
    ABRAMO
    11 years ago

    We are all at risk for being jailed like Pollard simply for being Jewish. This has been the plan of the national socialist and marxist movement and was expressed by william Ares(the underground weather terrorist) who Obama has strong affiliations with. Make certain your passports are current to escape from this new Hitler YEMACH SHMO!

    11 years ago

    CAn someone please tell me why all prior presidents refused to parole him?

    ShalomCon
    ShalomCon
    11 years ago

    I can’t fathom why anyone thinks Pollard deserves a commuted sentence? (Funny how it’s a “commuted sentence” and not a “pardon” anymore.) As Anonymous #5 points out: He’s never admitted doing anything wrong despite pleading guilty; he has yet to express an ounce of remorse or regret; he violated the terms of his plea agreement even before his sentencing hearing and most importantly, he didn’t care WHO he sold documents to. He didn’t sell documents to Israel “al kiddush HaShem”. Israel was just another convenient accomplice. And let’s not forget that Israel could’ve saved him, but turned the Pollards away when they sought asylum at the Israeli embassy after the Feds closed in on their home. The Pollards were arrested just outside the embassy gate!

    qazxc #1 is right. Four previous presidents (3 Rep, 1 Dem) didn’t waste their time on this unrepentant felon, so why should Obama?

    RebKlemson
    RebKlemson
    11 years ago

    Pollard is out in 2015 no matter what happens. Its when his prison time is up, look on the beureau of prisons website and type in the inmate name. when he was sentenced thats what a life sentence was considered

    NeoYekke
    NeoYekke
    11 years ago

    Is spying okay because one does it for allies? Were soviet spies in the USA during the 1940s no big deal simply because the USSR was a US ally at the time (Uncle Joe they called Stalin).

    I have never heard, ever, any Jewish site refer to the conviction held by some in the CIA that Pollard’s spying led to the roll-up of the US spy network in the Soviet Union, and the deaths of the US spies involved. Whether that information was stolen by Soviet spies in Israel, or given to the Soviet Union by Israel in exchange for Jews, I don’t know.

    I realize many feel that conviction is spurious, and that the fault lies with Aldrich Ames. That may be true. The point is, we will never know, and what they know they are not saying.

    If there is any doubt in their minds that perhaps Pollard had anything to do with this catastrophic CIA event, then they will never, ever let him out, and he should be thankful he was not executed.

    I feel bad for him and any Jew imprisoned. But I think we need to understand that the complete story is not public, and they are holding him for a reason, and those reasons may be tragic. And that it behooves us to remember that when we claim oppression.

    11 years ago

    I want pollard out . He should. Not. Have served more then three years .27. Years. Something. Is not right. Suspect collusion. Between u.s.a. &. Israel. However. It would. Be terrible if Obama benefits from his release. And gets relected. As he will be seen as a great humanitarian America and Israel will suffer . This is not the right time .