Pardon for Pollard is Back on the Agenda

By Aluf Benn, Ha'aretz Diplomatic Correspondent

WASHINGTON - Israel and the United States have begun a top-level dialogue on ways to put an end to the Jonathan Pollard affair. Pollard has been in jail in the U.S. for the past 14 years for spying for Israel.

Deputy director for special affairs at the Defense Ministry, attorney Moshe Kochnovsky, is currently in Washington talking to senior legal officials in the U.S. administration about the possibility of granting Pollard a pardon. Kochnovsky was appointed several months ago by Prime Minister Ehud Barak to coordinate the handling of the Pollard affair.

All of Pollard's pardon requests to date have been denied, due to fierce opposition from the U.S. intelligence community. However, during Barak's last trip to Washington in July, he and Clinton agreed to handle the affair through discreet channels rather than in public statements.

Relations between Clinton and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu were strained after the latter claimed that Clinton had promised to release Pollard at the same time as the signing of the Wye accord.

The current talks on Pollard's release might be a "prize" presented by Clinton to Barak, following the progress in the peace process and breakthrough in the talks with Syria.