David Jackson

USA TODAY

Update at 2:00 p.m.:

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday that President Obama "has not made a decision" on whether to release convicted Israel spy Jonathan Pollard as part of a Middle East peace deal.

Carney confirmed that Israel, as it has in years past, has requested Pollard's release as part of ongoing talks designed to set rules for new negotiations with the Palestinians.

The spokesman declined to comment further, saying that "I'm not going to get ahead of discussions that are underway."

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Obama administration is discussing the idea of trying to extend Middle East peace talks by releasing a convicted Israeli spy, a move that could alienate members of the U.S. intelligence community.

U.S. officials have opposed the release of Jonathan Pollard, arrested in 1985 and serving a life sentence for passing classified information to Israel while a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy.

Israel's government has long sought Pollard's release, and the United States may use the case as a bargaining chip as it seeks to set a framework for new peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians.

The New York Times reports that a Pollard release could be part of a deal that includes "the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including citizens of Israel, and a partial freeze on construction in West Bank settlements."

Secretary of State John Kerry is negotiating details with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Any deal would require the assent of President Obama and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Pollard issue also surfaced in Middle East talks during the Bill Clinton presidency in 1998. Then-CIA Director George Tenet threatened to resign if Pollard was released, and Clinton rejected the request.

Pollard is eligible for parole in November 2015.

Some analysts wonder if the Obama administration would play the Pollard card now, at a time when it is only trying to get Israel and the Palestinians to agree to a framework for new negotiations, not a final agreement that would create a new Palestinian state.

Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator, criticized the fact that the Pollard release is being discussed as part of a deal for a "framework" for negotiations, not a final agreement.

"They're trading Pollard not for something consequential, but for process," Miller said. "You're trading him away for process – peanuts, basically."

Many government officials are likely to be upset over a Pollard release, Miller said.

"It makes us look weak, and it makes us look desperate," Miller said.

In recent days, discussions among the Israelis and Palestinians have been hung up over a Palestinian prisoner release.

From The Washington Post:

"Netanyahu refused to carry out the scheduled release this past weekend of about two dozen Palestinian prisoners, and Abbas has threatened to walk out with a month to go before Kerry's deadline for an outline of a peace deal.

"Netanyahu told his Likud party Sunday that he will not allow the release unless Palestinians agree to extend talks, and he warned that he would refuse to do it at all unless assured that the release would be in Israel's interest."