US Congressmen request that Pollard be allowed to go to Israel

Citing the best interests of America, a number of Congressmen are requesting that Jonathan Pollard be allowed to unite with his family in Israel, having completely served his sentence.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

Congressman  (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet, and Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sent Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the Department of Justice (DOJ) a letter on Friday urging them to give “fair consideration” to Jonathan Pollard’s expressed desire to reunite with his family in Israel following his 30 year prison sentence he served for espionage on the US for Israel.

With his mandatory parole set for this Friday, Pollard asked permission from DOJ to join his wife in Israel since it has been acknowledged that there is “no reasonable probability” that he would commit any future crimes after his release.

“Mr. Pollard asks that he be permitted to leave the United States and join his family in Israel. Mr. Pollard understands that this would likely mean that he would never be able to return,” the letter states, as Pollard would be required to renounce his US citizenship.

“We believe that America’s interests and the interests of justice would be served if DOJ were to grant Jonathan Pollard’s request to reunite with his wife and move to Israel upon his release,” the Congressmen said in the letter.

“We respectfully ask that you give this request fair consideration,” they concluded.

No Show of Clemency From Obama

Pollard is set to be released from prison on Friday, but will be forced to remain in the US for the coming five years as part of his parole terms. President Barack Obama, who has the power of clemency and can enable Pollard’s move to Israel, has already stated he refused to agree to intervene on Pollard’s behalf.

“President Obama has not intervened in the judicial process here in the United States, and that’s been his consistent approach,” Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, stated earlier in November.

In late July, after Pollard’s release was announced, the White House quickly shot down the prospect of Obama showing any clemency, saying Pollard had committed “very serious crimes” and will serve his sentence under the law.

“The president has no intention of altering the terms of Mr. Pollard’s parole,” said Alistair Baskey, a spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council.