Pollard's father passes away
Jonathan Pollard's father, Morris, dies over weekend at age 95; family asks President Obama to allow imprisoned son to attend funeral, after previous pleas to let him see dying father go unheeded
The imprisoned Pollard's family is now asking United States President Barack Obama to allow Jonathan, in jail for 26 years now after being found guilty of espionage offences, to attend the funeral.
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Earlier this week, Pollard's family members pled with US authorities to allow Jonathan see his dying father before he passes away, but the requests were not heeded.
Jonathan Pollard's wife, Esther, received the grim news at Ben-Gurion Airport Saturday night. She was planning to fly to the US to visit Morris and was likely to board the flight nonetheless in order to attend the funeral in Indiana Monday.
Pollard activist Adi Ginzburg told Ynet that the family did not initially know whether Jonathan received the news, because he keeps the Shabbat. Esther was unable to speak after receiving the news and was crying and overwhelmed, her associates said.
'He was crying so hard'
Ginzburg added that intense efforts will be undertaken in the next two days in an effort to convince Obama to release Pollard for the funeral.
"It's a tragic request. That's all that is left for us to ask. They deprived Jonathan of the ability to bring children to the world, they did not let him bid his mother farewell before or after her death, and they did not let him bid his father farewell either," he said. "This is a humane decision that the US president needs to take. What else can a person be deprived of?"
Speaking to Ynet last week, Esther said she received a call from her crying husband.
"He was crying so hard that it was difficult to process, and now I'm crying too. He said his father Morris was dying and they don't know if he will last through the day," she said at the time.
Pollard's wife added that the father and son had tried speaking on the phone, but that the elder Pollard was too weak even to hold the receiver to his ear. She said his sudden illness had come as a shock because he had been relatively healthy for his age.
"Jonathan told him how much he loves him and thanked him for all he had taught him throughout the wonderful years they had together," Esther said.
Ronen Medzini contributed to the article
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