Bonded by a common belief that a punishment should fit the crime, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-8) joined with Congressmen Barney Frank (D-MA-4) and Anthony Weiner (D-NY-9) and leaders of the Jewish community to call upon President Barack Obama to grant clemency to Jonathan Pollard.

Pollard was a former civilian intelligence analyst who was convicted of spying for Israel.  He received a life sentence in 1987.  Israel granted Pollard citizenship in 1995, while publicly denying, until 1998, that he was an Israeli spy.  Israeli activist groups, as well as high-profile Israeli politicians, have lobbied for his release, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

“We are not questioning Mr. Pollard’s guilt, but rather appealing for clemency based on the vast disparity between his sentence and his crime,” said Pascrell, who visited Pollard in a federal prison in North Carolina in the late 1990s. “Israel is one of America’s strongest allies, and I believe that 25 years behind bars is far too many for Mr. Pollard, especially considering the sentences to those convicted of similar crimes on behalf of countries who are not our friends.”

Many respected figures in the defense and intelligence community agree that Pollard should now be released, including Lawrence Korb, a former assistant secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration, former CIA Director Woolsey, and Senator Dennis DeConcini, who sat on the intelligence committee when Mr. Pollard was arrested.    

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