In a bid to break an impasse in peace negotiations, Israel is reportedly offering to extend a freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank — a major obstacle to peace with the Palestinians — in exchange for the release of convicted American spy Jonathan Pollard. The former U.S. Navy civilian intelligence analyst has been serving a life sentence since 1987 for providing thousands of secret American documents to Israel. Pollard's release has been discussed before, but the threat of an angry reaction from U.S. national security officials has always derailed a deal. Should the U.S. reconsider to boost the chances of Mideast peace?
Nobody will accept such a silly deal: Sorry, "ain't gonna happen," says James Besser at The Jewish Week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be foolish to take on the "hapless Pollard," because then "he would have no choice but to sign off on another settlement building freeze," angering the Israeli right. Obama wants the settlement freeze, but in this already tough election year "the last thing the president needs is a major war with the entire defense and intelligence establishment."
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