Jailed American Jonathan Pollard, imprisoned for life for passing on classified information to Israel 23 years ago, told the hareidi religious daily HaModia that the American government will not pardon him without the involvement of the Israeli government. He stated that former Prime Ministers Yitzchak Rabin and Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu are the only two leaders who acted on his behalf.
Pollard stated, "The people in the White House are not stupid; they see the negligence of the Israeli government and the Jewish community."
He added that the American Jewish community also needs to play a larger role in his appeal for relief from the severe sentence, which usually is no more than four years in prison for similar offenses. "If the Jewish community here would have understood this to be their moral obligation - if not for me, for you yourselves, I would have gotten out," he said in an interview. "And it is not too late…. My message to the Jewish community is if you won't speak up about it, then you are agreeing with it."