Obama, Netanyahu discussed imprisoned Israeli agent Pollard
WTOP's Mark Plotkin spoke with Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
WTOP News Radio [Washington] - May 21, 2011
WASHINGTON - A spokesman for Benjamin Netanyahu, tells WTOP Radio that the Israeli prime minister talked with President Obama about imprisoned Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard during their meeting in Washington.
Pollard, a former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, has been serving a life sentence in the United States since being convicted of spying for Israel in 1985.
WTOP Political Analyst Mark Plotkin asked Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israel's prime minister, whether Netanyahu discussed a pardon for Pollard with President Obama during their meeting on Friday.
"We officially did so a few months ago. We sent a formal request to the White House at the end of last year. And it did come up yesterday in the White House," Regev said Saturday during an interview on WTOP.
When asked what the White House response was, Regev said, "That's for the administration to say, not for me."
Jonathan Pollard's wife Esther has said Netanyahu sent her a message before leaving Israel saying he would raise the issue of releasing her husband with President Obama.
Last week, a spokesman for Israeli chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger said President Obama's half brother vowed to press for the release of Pollard, after a meeting in Israel. Mark Ndesandjo, who was born to a Jewish mother, reportedly visited Israel to discover his roots.
View the original article and hear the interview.