The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations called on U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday to pardon Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard during the American holiday season.

“We hope that in this holiday season, as we approach the new year with hope and expectation, this request will be considered favorably,” chairman Robert Sugarman and executive vice chairman Malcolm Hoenlein wrote in a letter to the President. “We hope that Mr. and Mrs. Pollard will be allowed to rebuild their lives after him having served more than 10,000 days in prison.”

“We note the public calls and support for Mr. Pollard’s release that have come from many of those who were involved in his prosecution or are otherwise in a position to make responsible judgment, including former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, former CIA Director James Woolsey, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb, former National Security Advisor Robert MacFarlane, most recently Governor Bill Richardson, and William Webster, the head of the FBI at the time of Pollard’s arrest, who said that he no longer opposes his release.”

“This is foremost a matter of justice and humanity. [Pollard] has suffered and paid a heavy price for his crime, for which he has publicly expressed remorse,” the letter further read.

(Jacob Kornbluh -YWN)