The United States “is looking to intensify sanctions on Iran [and] other options are on the table,” U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee Wednesday.
It was the first time that Shapiro, appointed to the post last year, addressed the senior Knesset panel.
He did not directly answer if the Obama administration will free Jonathan Pollard, sentenced to life in jail for handing over classified information to an allied country [Israel] - an offense that usually carries a punished of 2-4 years in prison.
Some observers have suggested US President Barack Obama may free him shortly before the presidential election in November.
Shapiro said he “cannot speculate” about Pollard’s future, and also dodged sharp questions concerning the inability of National Union Knesset Member Dr. Michael Ben-Ari to obtain a vest to visit the United States.
The nationalist MK received backing from the center-left Kadima party’s MK Meir Sheetrit, who pointed out that the State Department allows Hamas members to visit the country.