In the Matter of Clemency for Jonathan Pollard As adopted by the Executive Committee of the RCA on November 17, 2010

Whereas, Jonathan Pollard committed illegal acts of spying against the United States for an American ally for which he was sentenced to life in prison; and

Whereas, Jonathan Pollard has been serving his life sentence since 1985; and

Whereas, Jonathan Pollard has now served longer than any other person convicted of espionage against the United States and 6 to 12 times the median sentence for this offense, which is 2 to 4 years; and,

Whereas, in the most recent espionage related case, on December 16, 2008, Mohammad Reza Alavi, an Iranian-born American spy who was employed at America’s largest nuclear plant, was sentenced for his efforts to provide nuclear software to Iran, which is certainly not an American ally today, to fifteen-months in prison; and,

Whereas, the disproportionate sentence received by Jonathan Pollard has been noted in requests for clemency by Lawrence Korb, former Deputy Secretary of Defense under Casper Weinberger, and by former Director of the CIA, James Woolsey, as well as Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston; Archbishop John R. Quinn of San Francisco; Father Robert Drinan, Professor of Law, Georgetown University; New York City Mayors Rudolph Giuliani and David Dinkins; Elie Wiesel; Benjamin Hooks, Executive Director of the NAACP; Jerome Shestack, past President of the American Bar Association; and at least 38 members of the United States Congress, both Representatives and Senators, and leaders representing the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform movements of the Jewish community, among many others;

Therefore, the Rabbinical Council of America, representing over 900 American rabbis, calls upon President Barack Obama to grant such clemency for Jonathan Pollard and to order his release from prison, and calls upon on those who stand for American justice and American interests on the world scene to advocate for clemency for Jonathan Pollard.