Wife dismisses 'rumor' of Pollard release
UPI - September 24, 2012
JERUSALEM - The wife of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard dismissed as "idle rumor" a report that the United States will pardon her husband.
Esther Pollard described the report as "cynical," saying Sunday it served only to detract attention from her husband's plight, The Jerusalem Post reported.
"We have been through this numerous times before," she said. "The headlines always promise Jonathan's release at some future date, which never arrives, while at the same time alleviating the pressure for Jonathan's release in the present tense."
Jonathan Pollard, an Israeli-American civilian intelligence analyst for the Navy, was convicted in 1987 of passing classified U.S. secrets to Israel. He was sentenced to life in prison.
His wife's comments were made in reaction to a report in the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth that a "high-level Israeli official" had stated Pollard was expected to be pardoned by President Obama following November elections in the United States. She called the report an "idle rumor."
Some politicians speculated the report might have been leaked to influence the Jewish vote in the American election.