Israel Matzav

US may release Pollard in exchange for last 52 'Palestinian' terrorists

US Secretary of State John FN Kerry is considering a request from Israel to release Jonathan Pollard in exchange for Israel's release of the 52 'Palestinian' terrorists who are scheduled to be released on Sunday and in April.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has reportedly agreed to consider the Israeli request to release Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard as a condition to the release of the remaining 52 Palestinian terrorists, including Israeli-Arabs, Channel 10 reported on Friday, quoting Israeli officials.

Israel has agreed to release 104 Palestinian security prisoners with blood on their hands in four phases as a part of a deal to restart peace talks with the Palestinian Authority. Half of these prisoners have already been released in two groups of 26 in August and October.

A third group of prisoners is scheduled to be released on Monday, the US State Department confirmed on Friday.

"Although we had expected the release to occur on December 29, we have been informed that technical issues made it necessary to do the release a day later," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.

A special ministerial committee is scheduled to meet on Saturday night to decide on the list of those to be freed late Monday night.

This still seems unlikely to happen despite the disclosure last week that the United States has spied on just about every country in the world, including Israel.

The Israeli officials were not optimistic about the proposal, however, saying the proposal has yet to be approved by US President Barack Obama and that they are doubtful that he will.

The White House told Channel 10 there is no plan to free Pollard in the foreseeable future, adding that "President Obama stands firm behind comments he made before arriving in Israel for a visit [in March 2013]. Pollard committed a grave crime, and [the President] has no intention of releasing him."

I don't believe that Pollard wants to be released in exchange for terrorists anyway.

Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Jonathan Pollard, Middle East peace process, Palestinian terrorists, spying

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:15 PM