Peres to Obama: Release Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.

Peres to Obama: Release Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.(Haaretz).President Shimon Peres sent a personal letter to U.S. President Barak Obama on Monday, urging Obama to consider granting clemency to Jonathan Pollard, citing the convicted spy's deteriorating health. Officials at Peres' bureau indicated that the president's diplomatic adviser handed the missive to U.S. envoy in Israel Dan Shapiro, with U.S. officials confirming that Obama received the letter in the afternoon. In a statement released by Peres, the president thanked Obama for what he said was the friendliness his administration has shown Israel, citing the Passover seder the American president held last week at the White House, and reiterating the importance of the value of freedom to the Jewish holiday. Peres updated his U.S. counterpart on a conversation he conducted a few days ago with Esther Pollard, the convicted spy's wife, stressing that the Pollard family, as well as the Jewish people, were concerned about Pollard's health. The president sent the missive after receiving a petition signed by 80 MKs, urging Obama to release the Jewish spy, as well as intense pressure from the lobby working to secure Pollard's release ahead of Peres' White House visit planned for June. During that meeting, Peres is expected to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which, the Pollard lobby argues, the president should refuse until the convicted spy is released. Peres' missive comes over a year after Netanyahu send a similar plea to the American president in January 2011, a letter which represented the first time Israel officially requested the spy's release. Netanyahu since raised the Pollard during his several meetings with Obama, although he did not always receive a U.S. response. Israeli officials estimated that, as with Netanyahu's attempts, Peres' missive serves, for the most part, as a declarative measure, one which won't likely draw out any U.S. reply and that won't advance Pollard's release. Hmmmm......If Obama thinks that releasing Pollard might give him a serious gain of Jewish votes he will.Read the full story here.