Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has called for the release of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard. Kissinger sent a letter to President Obama requesting that he commute Pollard\’s sentence to time served. Pollard was a U.S. Navy analyst when he passed classified information to Israel. He has been in prison since 1985.
U.S. President Barack Obama warned Monday that the U.S. and its NATO allies were still considering military options to stop what he called \”unacceptable\” violence perpetrated by supporters of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.
President Obama reportedly urged Jewish communal leaders to speak to their friends and colleagues in Israel and to “search your souls” over Israel\’s seriousness about making peace. In an hourlong meeting Tuesday with about 50 representatives from the Jewish community’s chief foreign policy umbrella group, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Obama reiterated the U.S. commitment to Israel, according to statements from both the White House and Conference of Presidents.
Former Indiana congressman Lee Hamilton appealed to President Obama to release Jonathan Pollard, calling it \”a matter of basic compassion and justice.\” Hamilton, a Democrat who was chairman of the House Intelligence Committee when Pollard was sentenced, has intervened in the case before, looking into inhumane treatment against Pollard when he first entered prison.
Dan Quayle urged President Obama to release imprisoned spy-for-Israel Jonathan Pollard. Quayle, who was U.S. vice president from 1989 to 1993, is the highest-ranking former official to call for the release of Pollard, the civilian U.S. Navy analyst who was sentenced to life in 1987.
Stuart Levey, the Obama administration\’s top Iran sanctions enforcement official, is leaving. Stuart Levey, who has been a Treasury undersecretary since 2005, will leave in about a month, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Levey, who is Jewish, devised a strategy of persuading not just governments but businesses to sanction the Islamic Republic for its defiance of international pressure to make its nuclear program more transparent.
The Israel Project has set up a China desk. The Washington-based group, which promotes Israel in the international media, announced the addition of veteran China expert Alex Pevzner to its staff on Wednesday as Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Washington for meetings with President Obama.
Former U.S. Secretary of State George Schultz has written to President Obama asking him to release Jonathan Pollard. The letter delivered Tuesday says that Pollard has \”now paid a huge price for his espionage on behalf of Israel and should be released from prison.\” In the letter, Schultz also said that he is impressed that people who are \”best informed\” about the classified material that Pollard passed to Israel favor his release.
A letter is circulating among U.S. senators urging President Obama to keep the Israelis and Palestinians at the negotiating table.
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