Skip to main content
ad info

 
CNN.com    world > middle east world map
    Editions | myCNN | Video | Audio | Headline News Brief | Feedback  

 

  Search
 
 

 
WORLD
TOP STORIES

Thousands dead in India; quake toll rapidly rising

Israelis, Palestinians make final push before Israeli election

Gates pledges $100 million for AIDS

Davos protesters face tear gas

(MORE)

TOP STORIES

Thousands dead in India; quake toll rapidly rising

Israelis, Palestinians make final push before Israeli election

Davos protesters face tear gas

(MORE)

MARKETS
4:30pm ET, 4/16
144.70
8257.60
3.71
1394.72
10.90
879.91
 


U.S.

POLITICS

LAW

TECHNOLOGY

ENTERTAINMENT

HEALTH

TRAVEL

FOOD

ARTS & STYLE



(MORE HEADLINES)
*
 
CNN Websites
Networks image


Israeli spy's release again comes up at Camp David summit

Pollard
Pollard  

July 24, 2000
Web posted at: 11:18 p.m. EDT (0318 GMT)



CAMP DAVID, Maryland (CNN) -- White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is pushing for the United States to free convicted spy Jonathan Pollard as part of the Mideast peace negotiations.

Pollard, a former U.S. naval intelligence official, pleaded guilty and was jailed in 1987 for spying for Israel. He is serving a life sentence.

  ALSO
 

  MESSAGE BOARD
 

"I'm not aware that it's come up in the context of the discussions," Lockhart said Monday, "but ... I don't know of any time the president has met with Barak in any format or extended session where, at some point, it's not raised."

This is not the first time the Pollard case has come up during peace negotiations. A demand that the United States allow him to return to Israel delayed the official announcement of an interim peace agreement during the Wye River negotiations in October 1998.

At the time, sources told CNN that U.S. President Bill Clinton had agreed to Pollard's release in principle, but he later rejected then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request.

Administration officials later said the president had promised only to review the case, as he has done several times, though several Israeli officials were convinced Clinton had assured Netanyahu that Pollard would be freed.

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the U.S. Justice Department, the Department of Defense, the CIA and the FBI all opposed Pollard's release in 1998 and 1999, and CIA Director George Tenet reportedly threatened to resign if Pollard was released.

Supporters of clemency for Pollard argued that other Americans convicted of espionage have received lesser sentences, and claimed that some suspected of spying for the former Soviet Union and other adversaries were not prosecuted in order to not expose U.S. intelligence information.



RELATED STORIES:
Clinton returns to Camp David hoping to mediate Mideast differences
July 23, 2000
Barak in seclusion as Mideast talks await Clinton's return from Japan
July 22, 2000
Camp David negotiators set Jerusalem aside, turn to other issues
July 21, 2000
Albright to step in for Clinton in Mideast peace talks
July 20, 2000
Final hours of Mideast summit tick down with no agreement in sight
July 19, 2000
White House expects Mideast peace summit to 'wrap up' by Wednesday
July 17, 2000

RELATED SITES:
"New Jersey Jewish News" OpEd by Jonathan Pollard
The Israeli Government's Official Website, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Knesset - The Israeli Parliament
Palestinian National Authority Home Page
U.N. Information System: Palestine
Near Eastern Affairs: Middle East Peace Process
Camp David Accords
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

 Search   

Back to the top  © 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.