Hadassah Media Update
July 17, 2012
On June 16, at Hadassah's National Business Meeting in Dallas, the Hadassah National Board approved the following motion:
Hadassah, in conjunction with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, supports the efforts of the U.S. House of Representatives to attain the freedom of Jonathan Pollard on the basis of clemency and have his sentenced reduced to time served. He is in the 27th year of his sentence.
In a bipartisan effort, members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee-Reps. Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Christopher Smith (R-NJ)-are soliciting signatures from their colleagues for a joint letter to President Obama, urging him to commute Pollard's sentence to time served. In April, the Conference of Presidents released a statement requesting Pollard's release, expressing concern regarding his health, and recently commended Reps. Engle and Smith on their efforts.
Hadassah passed a policy statement in 1993 in support of Pollard's commutation on humanitarian grounds.