ASKING OBAMA TO RELEASE POLLARD WOULD NOT BE WITHOUT STRINGS ATTACHED

Prime minister Netanyahu has announced that he'll seek convicted spy Jonathan Pollard's release:

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will issue a public, formal, and official call in upcoming days for US President Barack Obama to release Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard, the Prime Minister's Office announced in a press release issued Tuesday.

Netanyahu will issue the call at the behest of Pollard, whose wife Esther delivered him a request from her husband at the Knesset on Monday.

"I intend to continue to act with determination to free Pollard, both because of the ethical obligation Israel has toward him and because Jonathan should have the right to live with his family and rehabilitate his health after so many years in jail,” Netanyahu said in the press release.

Sources close to Netanyahu said he had consulted with American officials and his advisers about whether issuing the formal call could be helpful or whether it would do more harm than good.

Here's the problem: Obama likely wouldn't do it, if at all, without huge concessions on Israel's part. And that's the really severe difficulty in getting Pollard released.