Israeli PM: Let Spy Attend Funeral

The Associated Press reports:

Israel's prime minister has asked the Obama administration to let a former U.S. navy intelligence analyst convicted of spying for Israel leave prison to attend his father's funeral, an aide said Sunday.

The White House had rebuffed Israeli requests to let Jonathan Pollard, who has become a cause celebre here, visit his father before he died Saturday. Pollard's mother died in 2001 without his being given a furlough.

Netanyahu's people "are in contact with people in Washington to explore the possibility" of Pollard's attending his father's funeral, the aide said.

He did not say whether Israel had received a reply. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the Pollard case is a sensitive matter that has strained relations between the two nations.

Dozens of Israeli lawmakers across the political spectrum have signed a petition urging the White House to allow Pollard to attend the funeral.

"The issue of Jonathan Pollard's participation in his father's funeral is an obvious humanitarian issue," Israeli Cabinet Minister Yuli Edelstein said.