Israel welcomes release of spy Jonathan Pollard in US

“They own it. President Obama owns his release”.

“The people of Israel embrace him”, Bennett told Army Radio, though he added that he had been asked “not to speak expansively” about Pollard’s release.

The 61-year-old was freed on Friday morning (local time), ending one of the longest-running and most contentious issues between the U.S. and Israel.

Thirty years behind bars but now Jonathan Pollard a former US Navy analyst who passed secrets to Israel has been released from prison. He later told colleagues he had been “cultivated” by the Mossad to spy on the United States.

Under the rules of his release, he must wear a Global Positioning System unit to transmit his whereabouts at all times, allow the installation of monitoring equipment on any computers he uses at work or at home, and agree to periodic, unannounced inspections of those machines.

Lauer would not identify the firm but said it had hired Pollard before the computer monitoring requirement was imposed. Under the terms of his parole, he must remain in the United States for five years. A USA court jailed Pollard for life in 1987 after he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to deliver national defence information to a foreign government.

The lawyers wrote that the conditions were illegal, because they violate a federal statute, federal regulations, and the constitution, which strictly constrain the imposition of conditions on parolees.

“There is no basis whatsoever to treat Mr. Pollard in that manner, and doing so is vindictive and cruel”, the wrote. “It’s an abuse of the discretion that parole authorities have in a case like this. It’s a political decision, and with him, it’s been about politics all along”. The release took place shortly after midnight in a well-planned deception meant to make sure that cameramen and news crews staking out around the prison gates would not get a glimpse of the spy as he was set free.

Now nearly 30 years to the day since he was arrested, Jonathan Pollard has been granted parole and has expressed a desire to move to Israel, where he is regarded by many as a hero.

During his time as a spy, Pollard had provided Israel with several documents to which he had access to while working as an analyst who looked into terrorist activities and instabilities around the Caribbean and North America. President Clinton rejected Netanyahu’s request.

Israeli officials have reportedly been instructed to keep a low profile with regards to the release, as Pollard’s case has been a source of tension between Israel and the USA, its closest ally.

In a sign of the case’s sensitivity, Mr Netanyahu had asked his ministers to refrain from claiming a victory upon Pollard’s release, according to local media. Conservative representatives in Israel’s Knesset, the country’s legislative body, have proposed bills that would give Pollard a lifetime salary, healthcare and housing upon his arrival in Israel.

Hours later, as the sun rose over the prison near Raleigh, numerous cameraman still stood along the freeway outside the prison, unaware that the object of their stakeout was long gone and already starting his new life in NY. He suffers from severe diabetes and chronic leg and ankle swelling. The organization did not specify Pollard’s location.

“Pollard’s sentence of life imprisonment in 1985 was then – and remains today – unprecedented, excessive, grossly disproportionate and unfair”. “We wish Jonathan and his family, in their reunion, long and prosperous years ahead, health and peace”, Rivlin said.