(JNS.org) Israel is working “all the time” to convince the U.S. to free imprisoned Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, Dec. 22. Netanyahu rejected the connection of advocacy for Pollard’s release to new reports that U.S. intelligence has been intercepting correspondence between high-ranking Israel officials. “We don’t need any special event to spur us to action to free Pollard,” said Netanyahu, Israel Hayom reported. “We are busy with this all the time. There is no connection between reports stating that the U.S. collected data in Israel and the potential release of Pollard.”  Officials calling for Pollard’s release this month include Bill Richardson, former New Mexico governor and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., and Angelo Codevilla, a senior staffer on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee at the time of Pollard’s 1985 arrest.