Netanyahu to Make Public Call to US for Release of Israeli Spy

21/12/2010 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will make a public plea to US President Barack Obama for the release of Jonathan Pollard, an Israeli spy jailed 25 years ago, his office declared on Tuesday.

Netanyahu has decided to "accede to Jonathan Pollard's personal request and will, in the coming days, officially and publicly appeal to US President Barack Obama regarding Pollard's release," his office said.

Pollard, a former US Navy analyst, is serving a life sentence for passing thousands of secret documents about US spy activities in the Arab world to Israel between May 1984 and his arrest in November 1985.

The issue of Pollard, a US-born Jew who was given Israeli citizenship while in prison, has been a thorn in the side of relations between Israel and its main ally Washington.

"I intend to continue acting with determination for Pollard's release, both because of the State of Israel's moral obligation to him and so that he might live with his family and restore himself to health after his prolonged incarceration," Netanyahu claimed in the statement.

The decision to appeal publicly to Obama was made following a meeting with Pollard's wife, Esther, in occupied Jerusalem on Monday during which she gave Netanyahu a letter from her husband.

The statement said the decision "was made following a series of talks and contacts which the Prime Minister and his representatives have held on the issue in recent months with senior US administration officials."

It is unclear how Obama will respond to Netanyahu's public appeal.

(AFP)

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