Pollard rushed to emergency room

Suffering from extreme pain, Israeli agent rushed to hospital; source say too soon to know his condition.

Gil Hoffman - The Jerusalem Post - April 6, 2012


Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard was rushed to a hospital emergency room near his Butner, North Carolina prison early Friday after suffering from extreme pain, sources close to him said Friday.

Sources close to him said it was too soon to know his condition.

His long list of ailments include: Diabetes, nausea, dizziness, blackouts and ongoing issues with his gall bladder, kidneys, sinuses, eyes and feet. He also suffers from Meniere's disease, which causes him to lose consciousness and fall without warning.

Pollard's wife, Esther, has said in the past that he is in very ill health, and he has been hospitalized several times in recent years.

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger called upon Jews around the world to pray during the Passover holiday for the health and freedom of Pollard, whose Hebrew name is Yehonatan Ben-Malka.

President Shimon Peres said Tuesday that he would do whatever possible to bring about the release of Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard before he receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from US President Barack Obama.

Peres responded to a petition signed by more than 35,000 people calling upon him to take advantage of being granted the medal as an opportunity to push Obama to commute Pollard's sentence to the more than 26 years of his life sentence he has already served.

"As president, I see it as very important to work determinedly to bring about Jonathan Pollard's release," Peres said.

"We are all united in the call to release him immediately. In all my meetings with president Obama and top American government leaders I raised the request to release Pollard and I will continue to do so when I meet with Obama in June. My office is in touch with the campaign for Pollard's release and we will work hand in hand in any way possible to bring Jonathan Pollard home."

Obama announced three weeks ago at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference that he would give Peres the medal. Peres's office said he had discussed Pollard's fate with Obama when they met in Washington ahead of the conference.

But Pollard is still serving the life sentence he was given more than 26 years ago for passing classified information to an ally. Obama has not responded to calls by many top current and former Israeli and American officials to commute Pollard's sentence to time served.

"Due to the superior values the medal represents, we feel we cannot reconcile you receiving it when the United States is still holding Pollard in prison," the petition, which was signed by nearly 12,000 people at press time, states.

"We ask you to take advantage of your unprecedented diplomatic standing in order to work for Jonathan's immediate release before you are given the medal. Otherwise receiving the medal would make a mockery of Israel."

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