US rejected Netanyahu request to free Pollard ahead of talks

Given his experience at Wye in 1998, Prime Minister Netanyahu probably knew the answer before he asked the question. The US rejected a request that it free Jonathan Pollard ahead of talks between Israel and the 'Palestinians.' I guess they feel they don't have a need to make 'gestures' or 'sacrifices for peace.'

The report said Netanyahu told the Americans that if US President Barack Obama commuted Pollard’s life sentence to the nearly 28 years he has served, it would help him persuade his cabinet to approve the release of 82 Palestinian terrorists from Israeli prisons. But the Americans rejected Netanyahu’s request.

When asked for confirmation, sources close to Netanyahu would only say: “We routinely raise the issue with American officials.”

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Pollard, who is serving his 28th year in prison, has repeatedly shunned attempts to make him a bargaining chip in prisoner exchanges and diplomatic processes, especially when murderers were released.

But MKs who support his release said freeing him now would not be seen as a trade for Palestinian terrorists but as a sign of goodwill by the US to the Israeli people.

“This is the best time in the world to call upon the Americans to release Pollard as a gesture for the beginning of negotiations, said Labor MK Nachman Shai, who is the new co-chairman of the Knesset’s Free Pollard Caucus. “Pollard should be the American gift to Israelis, and they can do it.”

Shai noted that many Israelis feel uncomfortable about the American pressure to come to the negotiating table. He said that a popular issue like freeing Pollard would go a long way.
“It’s a window of opportunity for goodwill to Israelis, who are not going through an easy time,” Shai said. “It would build up public support for negotiations and show that the US also understands the gravity of this historic moment.”

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