[Mr. K]

I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, it is just not done for people like Pollard

[kabar]

Yes it is. I was involved in several swaps of spies and political prisoners on Glienicke Bridge in Berlin, including Natan Sharansky. It was pressure from Reagan that made it happen. And there were other prisoners/spies that were part of that swap on both sides.

Pollard is considerably higher profile, which makes it more difficult despite intense pressure from Israel for his release. There is a public square in Jerusalem named for Pollard, formerly Paris Square (Kikar Paris.) And the fact that Pollard was a US citizen complicates matters. Pollard renounced his US citizenship. Israel granted Pollard citizenship in 1995. So right now, we hold an Israeli citizen.