President Obama is set to visit Israel this coming Wednesday, and he may find an interesting welcome wagon - a hunger strike. A new wave of popular activism is rising in Israel is support of Jonathan Pollard, an American sentenced to life in a North Carolina prison for spying on the US for Israel. Israelis in support of the campaign say that Mr. Pollard has served more than enough time for his crime (28 years). Even former director of the CIA, James Woolsey, acknowledged the fact that three other spies convicted of spying on the US for friendly countries were only sentenced to prison for five years - not life.
Pollard started spying for Israel in 1984 while he was a US Navy intelligence analyst. He was discovered 18 months later, and tried to seek amnesty at the Israeli embassy, but was denied entry. He pleaded guilty in court and was sentenced to life in prison. In 1995, however, Israel granted him citizenship; and in the late 1990s Prime Minister Netanyahu officially acknowledged him as an Israeli agent. Mr. Pollard's assignment was to give Israel US information on its Arab adversaries in the region.
President Obama has said that he "has no plans for releasing Mr. Pollard immediately."
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