The Knesset & US Congress jointly urge Obama to release Jonathan Pollard

With Obama’s pending trip to Israel, MK Danny Danon & former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee initiated a joint petition urging Jonathan Pollard’s pardon.

President Shimon Peres set to urge U.S. Senators to seek Pollard’s release as well.

By Mati Tuchfeld and Yori Yalon

 

A joint initiative by Knesset members and the U.S. Congress is calling on President Barack Obama, scheduled to visit Israel in a few weeks, to secure the release of imprisoned Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard in time to bring the news to Israel personally on his visit.

Jonathan Pollard. – Photo: AP

The two politicians behind the initiative, Israeli MK Danny Danon (Likud-Beytenu) and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, met on Thursday to discuss the joint endeavor. They agreed to involve both Israel’s and the U.S.’s legislatures in a petition to be submitted to Obama before his trip.

During their meeting, Danon told Huckabee that he hoped “the signatures of Knesset and Congress members on the petition will help Obama make the courageous, but necessary decision to free Pollard once and for all.”

Huckabee, who is currently visiting Israel, is a popular figure in the U.S. He vied for the presidency in 2008 but failed to win the Republican party nomination; he also hosts a weekly television program on Fox News.

President Shimon Peres is also expected to raise the issue of Pollard’s release in a meeting with leading U.S. senators this week.

View original Israel Hayom publication at: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=7409