'Joe Biden opposed freeing Jonathan Pollard'
By JPOST.COM STAFF - The Jerusalem Post - October 2, 2011
'NY Times' reports US vice president told rabbis in Florida "over my dead
body are we going to let him out before his time"; Obama is yet to decide.
US Vice President Joe Biden opposed offering clemency to jailed Israeli
agent Jonathan Pollard , The New York Times quoted Biden as saying in an
article published on Saturday.
US President Barack Obama has yet to respond to a request from President
Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to grant clemency to
Pollard.
"President Obama was considering clemency, but I told him, ‘Over my dead
body are we going to let him out before his time,’" Biden said. “If it were
up to me, he would stay in jail for life.”
Biden allegedly made the statement during a meeting with rabbis in Boca
Raton, Florida last week, when asked by one of the rabbis why Pollard had
not been released.
In a press release circulated by the Justice For Jonathan organization, it
is stated that the vice president gave "absolutely no clue as to the reason
for his flip-flop," which contradicts a video interview he gave in 2007 in
which he expressed support for Pollard's release via commutation of his
sentence to time served:
Biden also did not offer any explanation, the statement said, to contradict
the professional opinions expressed by the former head of the CIA, the
former- attorney- general, several former secretaries of state, the former
head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the former White House legal
counsel and "a host of others intimately familiar with the case, who all
think freedom for Pollard is long overdue."
The group stated that Biden's change of heart on Pollard supported The New
York Times contention that Biden's recent declaration that Pollard should
never be released was a "stunt to take the hit for his boss, Obama." The
president has been repeatedly criticized for his silence in response to
requests by high ranking American official requests for Pollard's release,
according to the group.
The The New York Times reported that Obama is relying on Biden to help him
retain the Jewish vote, seen by many to be slipping to the Republicans.
Next month Pollard will complete his 26th year of a life sentence
SEE ALSO RELATED:
European Jewish leader calls to free Pollard
The American president and freedom for Jonathan Pollard
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JUSTICE FOR JONATHAN POLLARD
Website: http://www.JonathanPollard.org
Follow J4JP on Twitter:http://twitter.com/J4JPollard
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IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
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