On 9/14/12, 1,200 rabbis appealed to Barack Obama to release long-imprisoned Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard

The request came during a conference call Obama held with rabbis and Jewish community leaders in advance of the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashannah – the Jewish New Year. At the start of the call, a delegation of the rabbis presented to Obama a joint request for Pollard's release. He is currently completing his 27th year in prison for the crime of passing classified information to a foreign country. Pollard was sentenced to life in prison in the 1980s for passing classified information to Israel.