Orthodox Group Uses Jonathan Pollard Case To Push For Criminal Justice Reform
An Orthodox group voiced support for a bipartisan prison reform bill which would ease prison sentencing, and tied the criminal justice reform effort to its ongoing advocacy for former Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.
“As the White House seeks to improve the lives of so many through the advancement of comprehensive and compassionate criminal justice legislation, we urge President Trump to take steps to allow that benevolence to apply to Jonathan Pollard as well,” said Farley Weiss, president of the National Council of Young Israel. “After having served three decades in prison due to a highly disproportionate sentence, Jonathan Pollard deserves to have his outrageous parole provisions relaxed and be permitted to travel to Israel.”
Pollard pleaded guilty to spying for Israel in 1987. He was released in 2015, but is barred under the terms of his parole from traveling to Israel.
The National Council of Young Israel has long been one of the most vigorous voices in support of Pollard. Their press release praising President Trump for his support of the prison reform bill, called the First Step Act, mentioned Pollard in its headline.
“YOUNG ISRAEL: PRESIDENT’S SUPPORT FOR ‘FIRST STEP ACT’ IS A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION,” the headline read. “Reiterates Call for Jonathan Pollard to be Permitted to Travel to Israel.”
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO