Israeli President Shimon Peres asked U.S. President Barack Obama to review the case of Jonathan Pollard on his last foreign trip before leaving office. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – President Shimon Peres met with U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday at the White House in Washington on his last foreign trip before leaving office next month.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Peres asked Obama to free imprisoned Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.

“I offered a certain proposal, and President Obama promised that the attorney-general [Eric Holder] would review it,” Peres said after the meeting.

Peres revealed that it had been submitted at the request of the Pollard family. Remarking on the chances of Pollard being released, “if I said ‘optimistic,’ I’d be saying more than what President Obama said,” Peres said.

After days of silence, Obama also publicly commented for the first time on the recent kidnapping of three Israeli teens in Gush Etzion, saying that the U.S. intends to help Israel “in order to return the kidnapped teens to their homes.”

On Thursday, Peres, 90, will receive the Congressional Gold Medal and deliver an address to Congress. Peres’ seven-year term in office comes to an end next month, when he will be replaced by Reuven Rivlin, who was elected two weeks ago.