On October 15, 2010 Jonathan Pollard applied for commutation of his life sentence for spying for Israel. In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Department of Justice Pardon Attorney released 134 pages (PDF) of clemency files but refused to release Pollard’s actual October 15, 2010 appeal, stating, “After reviewing all of these records, I have determined that a discretionary release of the withheld and redacted material would not be appropriate.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought Pollard’s release as part of a US incentive package in return for a temporary freeze on illegal settlement building. Organizations such as the Zionist Organization of America and B’nai B’rith International have gathered the signatures of 39 members of Congress on a letter to President Obama pressuring for Pollard’s release.
Presidential pardons for Americans convicted of crimes committed in the name of Israel are a growth category. John F. Kennedy pardoned smuggler Herman “Hank” Greenspun of Neutrality Act violations in 1961. In 2008, George W. Bush pardoned Charles Winters for illegally smuggling warplanes to Israel. In 2000 Bill Clinton pardoned Adloph “Al” Schwimmer of weapons smuggling even though he never expressed remorse or personally applied for a pardon (normally requirements) over violating US arms export controls. Bill Clinton also pardoned fugitive financier Marc Rich upon leaving office. Clinton’s deputy attorney general, Eric Holder (the current Attorney General), advised the Clinton White House counsel that he was “neutral, leaning toward favorable” on pardoning Rich, after being told former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak supported Rich’s petition on the basis of Rich’s clandestine services to Israel.
The DOJ refusal to release Pollard’s pardon means watchdog organizations and the press cannot determine whether the “settlement freeze for Pollard” or some other “quid pro quo” is formalized in the clemency request.
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