JERUSALEM — Israel’s prime minister Tuesday made a public appeal for the freedom of an American who spied for Israel, asking in a letter to President Barack Obama for clemency after the spy has spent 25 years behind bars.
The case of Jonathan Pollard “unites us all,” Benjamin Netanyahu told his parliament, before reading the letter.
The request comes at a low point in Israel-U.S. relations over stalemated Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. A deal that would have given Israel advanced warplanes and political backing in exchange for an extension of a slowdown in settlement construction to restart peace talks fell through.
In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the administration would review the request.
With relations with the U.S. strained over the lack of progress in peace efforts, it appeared unlikely it would be approved. Previous Israeli appeals have been met coolly.
Pollard, now 56, was turned away from the Israeli Embassy in Washington in 1985 with U.S. authorities close behind. He was arrested and sentenced to life in prison for passing classified information to Israel about Iraq and other subjects.
In his letter to Obama, Netanyahu repeated Israeli apologies about the Pollard affair, recognized as a black mark on Israeli foreign affairs. “Its actions were wrong and unacceptable,” the letter said. Netanyahu wrote that since Pollard has now spent 25 years in prison, “I believe that a new request for clemency is highly appropriate.”
The Pollard case embarrassed Israel, infuriated Washington and put American Jews in an uncomfortable position of having to defend their loyalty to the U.S. while supporting Israel.
American defense officials remain furious over the case.
Netanyahu listed earlier appeals to the U.S. to release Pollard, dating back to 1995, and recounted his own visit to Pollard in prison as a private citizen in 2002. He told his parliament Pollard asked him in a letter two weeks ago to make a public appeal to Obama.
