There is no question Pollard did something illegal, and should have been held accountable for that. But he already paid his debt to the American society, plus so much interest. He was supposed to be only several years in prison, according to his plea bargain, which was then rescinded for political purposes by Weinberger. This is while spies who have committed much worse offenses are released much sooner from jail. Don't heed the haters, it's finally time to let the poor man go.

from a 1000 meters above the short runway at the Ben Gurion aerodrome.

The US must not allow Israel to extort us into releasing a traitor from jail in order to get Israel to abide by its previous commitments under the Road Map, we have many other carrots to withhold such as our military aid and loan guarantees obtain their compliance. The so called US representatives are of questionable loyalty themselves in my book if they are using the peace talks to gain the release of a traitor who sold out his country for profit.

how despicably self-serving. can they go any lower?

Jonathan Pollard is in prison for so much longer than anybody else who committed a similar crime because CIA feel humiliated. Just like Shin Bet never want Yigal Amir released CIA never want Jonathan Pollard released. Sadly the US is run by a man who supports pan arabism and is obsessed with appeasing muslims and would love nothing better than to see Israel destroyed. The man is also an anti semite and the only jews he cares about are the ones who will vote Obama in 2012. FREE JONATHAN POLLARD NOW

To quote an old Arab proverb; one man,s traitor is another,s freedom fighter ?

What in friggin' hell are you argueing about??! "traitor/hero/paid his dues/Vanunu..." What is clear that he's paid tenfold in comparison to other, true traitors that for monetary gains caused deaths of american agents abroad. What does the phoney peace-process with the phoney palestinians got to do with his freedom??!! Fate of a nation linked to fate of one man..??!! What a moronic connection. If we can't get Gilad Shalit freed from a bunch of "rugatka"-wielding arab thugs how do you expect to achieve anything by moaning about Pollard.?

pollard is a traitor,let him rot in jail for the rest of his days.realising him wont help the peace process

As was said before, Pollard has served more time in jail than similar offenders. Letting him go would give both Netanyahu and Obama a bigger support from Israeli's center-right, thus making them more confortable in putting their faiths in a "peace deal" brokered by Obama, and Netanyahu would be able to accept it without breaking his coalition.

Unlike Alger Hiss, Whittaker Chambers, Robert Hansen, Aldrich Ames and the Walkers, who spied for an implacable foe (the Soviet Union) and did it for profit, Jonathan Pollard spied for a loyal ally and did it for ideological reasons, not money. I don't much care for spies generally, but there is a difference.

Pollard has served more time in jail than so-called spies who worked for hostile nations. So Pollard's freedom is long overdue. However, Israel must categorically reject the use of Pollard as a lever to extend the evil racist, anti-Jewish building freeze. This must end forever. We must DEMAND it!

He is still alive. His debt is not paid. If he is released it should be something tangible, not warm fuzzies that might last an instant. Something tangible like establishent of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza and withdrawal from all of East Jerusalem so it can be the capital of Palestine. Deliver (no ephemeral or someday, maybe promises) that irrevocably and then Pollard might be exchanged.

So what about Vanunnu as he sold his soul for Arab blood money ,unlike Pollard who was passing on insignificant info. to his Israeli handlers ,info that didn,t disclose American statetic targets such as nuclear reactors ,missile sites etc. Once again Palestinian childish nonsense shows up on a Zionist website ?

Now I don't know all the specifics of his case. What info he released exactly, if it hurt any agents in the field (by that I mean, did it cause agents to be killed)? What have happened to others convicted of similar acts? Basically is he being held longer, than others who committed similar or worse crimes of espionage? So is it a political thing or not? If others have served and are still serving equal time in jail, then he stays in jail. If others have been released after serving less time, then I would ask why? But this much is clear, he did commit those acts, and his guilt is not in question. Only whether the sentence is fair, so correct me if I'm wrong. I don't have much sympathy for traitors, my feeling is if he disagreed with U.S. policy, he should have resigned his position, not become a spy.

Pollard took money to betray US for Israel, while Gilad Shalit is innocent soldier.

which will only enrage most Americans, me included.

Why was Pollard tried as it caused great damage to USA interests

All of you freely use the term "traitor" when referring to Pollard. However "traitor" is a term used for someone who stabs his country in the back, usually in order to weaken it, for the benefit of an enemy. None of this applies for Pollard, who spied for a friendly country, did not cause major damage to US interests, and contrary to the nasty rumors - never gave anything to the Soviets. Pollard may a criminal, but traitor he is not. Having established this fact, my post (#2) gives a very good answer why Pollard should be released. Of course you are free to disagree with me, but if you do so, then I dare you to tackle the arguments I gave there head-on, instead of resorting to empty slogans.

You spend your concern & effort on Shalit, 'cause Pollard is a wrap.

1. The fact that the original sentence which the United States agreed to in the plea-bargain, stated Pollard would stay only a few years in prison. The flagrant violation of the plea-bargain, for political reasons, is reminiscent of dark regimes and hardly Due Process By Law. 2. That he was spying for a friendly country, not for the enemy, for the purpose of saving lives. He did not deliver sensitive information about America, but information the CIA collected about Iraq. He did not cause major damage to America, and contrary to nasty and unfounded rumors - he never delivered anything to the Soviets. 3. That as I, and other posters here stated, other similar or worse offenders got off much lighter. The reason for singling Pollard out is quite obvious.

Treason for money is not uncommon. Israel delivered the information that was obtained from Pollard and that got people killed. He stole information for money, and maybe for ideology. That he didn't intend that Israel would filter it to the Soviets is not relevant. If you want him, make the US an offer or watch him rot if he's not worth it to you.

is it ok to spy on countries you are friendly with? is that what friends do to each other? do friendly countries gladly accept illegally-obtained information from countries it considers to be its friend? does treason only occur when a citizen betrays his country to an enemy? (no.) does the US have exclusive right to what it shares or doesn't share with friendly countries, or is it up to the personal discretion of individual intelligence employees what they think is right? is giving sensitive information to another country ok if the damage caused is not "major"? you do know that if people in israel hadn't have made pollard such a hero and celebrity, he probably would have been out a long time ago. but to trumpet such actions made the US harden its position to make an example of him, to deter other potential US traitors from trying to make a name for themselves by becoming a "hero of israel" at the expense of american sovereignty over its intelligence material and interests. pollard's actions betrayed america. thankfully his betrayal was to a country as friendly as israel, but he committed an act of treason against his own country and did damage to america's interests. and israelis treating him like a hero doomed him to an exaggerated sentence.

But not this - "For instance, when asked to return the stolen material, the Israelis handed over a few dozen lowly classified documents.[26] At the time, the Americans knew that Pollard had passed tens of thousands of documents, possibly over a million.[citation needed] The Israelis created a schedule designed to wear down the Americans, including many hours per day of commuting in blacked out buses on rough roads, and frequent switching of buses.[26] This left the Americans without adequate time to sleep and prevented them from sleeping on the commute.[26] The identity of Pollard's original handler, Sella, was withheld. All questions had to be translated into Hebrew and answered in Hebrew, and then translated back into English, even though all the parties spoke perfect English.[26] The Americans were treated with hostility from the moment they arrived in Israel to the moment they left.[26] Commander Jerry Agee remembers that, even as he departed the airport, airport security made a point of informing him that "you will never be coming back here again"; Agee found various items had been stolen from his luggage, upon his return to the United States.[26] The abuse came not only from the guards and officials, but also the Israeli media.[26] Aviem Sella, Pollard's initial Israeli contact, was eventually indicted on three counts of espionage by an American court.[27] Israel refused to allow him to be interviewed unless he was granted immunity. America refused because of Israel's previous failure to cooperate as promised. Israel then refused to extradite Sella, instead giving him command of a prestigious air force base. The U.S. Congress responded by threatening to cut aid to Israel, at which point Sella stepped down.[28]"