JERUSALEM // Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked US President Barack Obama to pardon an American who spied for the Jewish state, and the White House said Tuesday it was reviewing the request.
Netanyahu was to read his letter to Obama to the Israeli parliament on Tuesday evening, but public radio quoted in advance what it said was a passage.
"A long time has passed since the act was carried out," it said. "Pollard has served his punishment."
In Washington, a White House official confirmed receipt of the message.
"We have received the letter and will review it," the official said.
Pollard, a former US Navy analyst, is serving a life sentence for passing thousands of secret documents about American spy activities in the Arab world to Israel between May 1984 and his arrest in November 1985.
The issue of Pollard, a US-born Jew who was given Israeli citizenship while in prison, has been a thorn in the side of relations between Israel and its main ally Washington.
His arrest sparked a crisis in ties that only ended with Israel promising to end all espionage activities on US soil.
But Israelis say Pollard's punishment and the longstanding US refusal to commute his sentence have been particularly harsh, given that he gave information to a friendly nation.
Israeli prime ministers have repeatedly tried, in vain, to secure Pollard's release.
Netanyahu last month announced he would make a public plea to Obama for Pollard's release.
"I intend to continue acting with determination for Pollard's release, both because of the State of Israel's moral obligation to him and so that he might live with his family and restore himself to health after his prolonged incarceration," he said in a statement.
The US State Department issued a non-committal response after Netanyahu announced his intentions.
"If such a request were formally made, there's obviously a legal process that would be undertaken to evaluate it," spokesman Philip Crowley said last month.
He did not rule out the prospect that Pollard's case could be looked at in a broader light.
"In the context of advancing Middle East peace, if either the Palestinians or the Israelis want to raise with us issues of importance to them, we will consider all of this as we try to get them to an agreement," Crowley said.
"If the Israeli government makes a formal request, there is a legal process overseen by the Department of Justice to evaluate such requests," he added.
Netanyahu's decision to appeal publicly to Obama came after a meeting with Pollard's wife, Esther, in Jerusalem last month, during which she gave Netanyahu a letter from her husband.
Netanyahu at the time said the decision "was made following a series of talks and contacts which the prime minister and his representatives have held on the issue in recent months with senior US administration officials."
