Congress and Knesset Jointly Urge Obama to Release Pollard

by Mati Tuchfeld and Yori Yalon

With U.S. President Barack Obama's trip to Israel mere weeks away, MK Danny Danon and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee initiate a joint petition urging the release of the Israeli spy • Peres set to urge U.S. senators to secure Pollard's release as well.

Jonathan Pollard. Photo credit: AP

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U.S. singer Pat Boone, left, and former Governor Mike Huckabee, right, light the Eternal Flame at the Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, in Jerusalem last Wednesday.
Photo credit: AP

A joint initiative by Knesset members and the U.S. Congress is calling on President Barack Obama, scheduled to visit Israel in a few weeks, to secure the release of imprisoned Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard in time to bring the news to Israel personally on his visit. 

The two politicians behind the initiative, Israeli MK Danny Danon (Likud-Beytenu) and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, met on Thursday to discuss the joint endeavor. They agreed to involve both Israel's and the U.S.'s legislatures in a petition to be submitted to Obama before his trip.

During their meeting, Danon told Huckabee that he hoped "the signatures of Knesset and Congress members on the petition will help Obama make the courageous, but necessary decision to free Pollard once and for all." 

Huckabee, who is currently visiting Israel, is a popular figure in the U.S. He vied for the presidency in 2008 but failed to win the Republican party nomination; he also hosts a weekly television program on Fox News. 

President Shimon Peres is also expected to raise the issue of Pollard's release in a meeting with leading U.S. senators this week.

Mati Tuchfeld and Yori Yalon

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=7409

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