Ahead of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's planned Tuesday meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, activists are calling Obama and asking him to release Jonathan Pollard, who has served nearly 25 years in prison for providing Israel with classified security information.
Activists wrote a letter to Obama from “the People of Israel” asking him to send Pollard home. “Your principled signature on Jonathan Pollard's pending clemency papers would be the consummate act of friendship towards the People of Israel,”” they wrote.
The meeting with Netanyahu is “an opportunity to demonstrate what real change means,” the letter states, playing on Obama's campaign promise of “change.”
Next Monday, July 12, will be the 9,000th day that Jonathan Pollard has spent in prison in the United States. In Israel, the Committee to Bring Jonathan Pollard Home will mark the occasion by kicking off a three-day rally.
Activists will hold the rally at the Light Rail Bridge at the entrance to Jerusalem. Over the three days, they plan to hold lectures and discussions, and to write and send 9,000 letters of support to Pollard.
Every person who stops by the rally will be given a chance to be photographed while holding a sign of support for Pollard. The photographs will be sent to Pollard along with the letters.
Letters and photographs will also be sent to Netanyahu, Obama, and other senior U.S. and Israeli officials, in order to emphasize the extent of public support for Pollard's release.