国际英语新闻：Former top U.S. official calls to free Israeli spy: report

JERUSALEM, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- A former senior American senator added his voice to recent calls to release Jonathan Pollard, an American-born spy who last week marked the 25th anniversary of his incarceration, local daily reported on Thursday.

"His punishment was more than others were given (for the same and worse offenses)," Dennis DeConcini told The Jerusalem Post newspaper in a telephone interview.

DeConcini, who served from 1977 until 1995 and chaired the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said he believed that Pollard, who allegedly handed classified information to Israeli intelligence while working as an analyst for the U.S. Navy in the mid-1980s, has paid his debt.

"He is guilty, but it's time for this to be resolved in a better way," he said.

Israel officially denied any connection to Pollard immediately following his capture in 1985, a policy it maintained until 1998. Numerous Israeli politicians have since then lobbied for his release, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who visited him in the maximum security facility in which he is held in 2002, while serving as finance minister in the Sharon government.

In late October, dozens of Israeli lawmakers signed a letter calling on U.S. President Barack Obama to grant Pollard clemency, noting that Israel has taken responsibility for his actions and apologized.

The letter was given to Netanyahu a few days before he departed for a week-long visit to the U.S. for meetings with top officials, including Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Netanyahu reportedly did not pass on the letter to the U.S. officials. But some analysts speculate that the prime minister may request Pollard's release as part of the recent U.S. proposal to give Israel a military and diplomatic incentives package in return for freezing West Bank settlement construction.