Chacham Ovadia Yosef joined the call of Israeli and American leaders calling for the release of Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard today. Former Secretary of State George Schultz and US President Barack Obama’s mentor, Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree, are among public figures who have called for Pollard’s release in the past week.
Shas chairman Eli Yishai relayed a letter to Obama from Rav Yosef in a meeting with American ambassador James Cunningham at Yishai’s Tel Aviv office. Yishai told Cunningham about the urgency of Obama granting Pollard clemency after serving more than 25 years of a life sentence for passing classified information to an ally. Cunningham promised to make sure Obama receives Rav Yosef’s letter.
“The matter is complicated, and people are working on the matter at all times,” Cunningham said, according to Yishai’s associates.
Yishai’s associates said Rav Yosef had written American presidents in the past asking for Pollard’s release and sent letters about Pollard via prime ministers who visited the White House.
{JPost/Matzav.com}
Tzadik!
This won’t make any difference if Pollard won’t apply for parole. He needs to apply for parole otherwise this White House will respond the same way the Bush White House did. You can read about it on Pollard’s own website.