Attorney Larry Dub, who has represented Jonathan Pollard for over twenty years, said on Thursday that pressure must be placed on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to get Pollard released from prison.
During a conversation with Arutz Sheva, Dub said that Israelis should start a campaign to free Pollard similar to the one that resulted in the release of Gilad Shalit for 1,027 Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists.
“It wasn’t the protest tent set up by Shalit’s parents that brought about his release, but rather the fact that the Shalit family hired the services of a media consultant,” he said. “They had people talking about it with the Knesset members day and night. That’s exactly what needs to be done now. Just as the prime minister made a 360 degree change regarding the release of murderers for Shalit after he was pressured to do so, he can now be pressured to pick up the telephone to Obama.”
“Pollard can be released from prison with just one phone call,” Dub added. “It’ll be enough if the prime minister picks up the phone and tells Barack Obama, ‘We want Pollard, case closed,’ and we’ll get him back within 24 hours. Sending Obama a letter and waiting for an answer is not seriously negotiating. How come Netanyahu hasn’t demanded a reply until now?”
In 1986, Jonathan Pollard was found guilty of spying on the United States on behalf of Israel and sentenced to life in prison. Similar cases of spying for a friendly nation usually yield sentences of less than five years, but U.S. authorities have refused to release Pollard.
Many observers believe Pollard is being singled out for harsh and cruel treatment because he is a Jew who spied for Israel.
Some well-known individuals have publicly called for Pollard’s release such. These include former Vice President Dan Quayle, U.S. Middle East negotiator Dennis Ross, former CIA director James Woolsey, former Secretary of State George Shultz, and even Senator John McCain (who was once vehemently opposed to the idea).
Earlier this month, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden revealed that President Obama was set to release Pollard but that Biden thwarted the move and said, ‘Over my dead body are we going to let him out before his time. If it were up to me, he would stay in jail for life.”
Biden, who made the comments during a meeting with a group of rabbis in Florida, later agreed to meet with a “small group” of American Jewish leaders about the case.