Israeli Spy Jonathan Pollard Released From Prison

Pollard’s lawyer has said he has a job and a residence waiting in NY.

A photo released earlier by the group of activists devoted to bring about his release shows Pollard, in civilian clothing, embraced by Esther, in their new, and undisclosed, apartment in NY. He is smiling, seemingly reluctantly. He was granted Israeli citizenship in 1995. He wishes he had moved to Israel to offer his help instead of resorting to spying.

The severity of his sentence has prompted speculation that a few of the intelligence sold by Pollard to Israel eventually ended up in the hands of the Soviet Union.

“After three long and hard decades Jonathan is at last reunited with his family”, he said. Pollard’s attorneys said no employer would agree to such surveillance, Ynet reported.

In a sign of the case’s sensitivity, Netanyahu had asked his ministers to refrain from claiming a victory upon Pollard’s release, according to local media.

“Blessed is He who frees the imprisoned”, Rivlin said. And while they didn’t get to see him, they did get to see the day he was freed. “And we are happy he will finally be released”. “We continue to demand the removal of any restriction on your freedom of movement, communication, or other violation of your rights”, Israeli lawmaker Nachman Shai wrote in a letter to Pollard. “He should be fully released, not only literally released”.

“I have waited for this day for 30 long years, unbelievable”. “It’s unbelievable. It’s an fantastic moment”. Now that he’s out of prison, it’s more likely that Pollard will retreat into oblivion, a relic of an era with very little connection to the present. He has been serving a life sentence but was granted parole this year under sentencing rules at the time of his prosecution.

According to unconfirmed accounts over the years, Jonathan Pollard was never recruited as a spy. After his graduation from Stanford University, Pollard attempted to realise dreams of becoming a spy for Israel’s intelligence apparatus, Mossad.

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. After years of working there, he began passing intelligence to Israeli agents. Among them were documents related to Arab troops, the PLO and chemical and biological warfare programs conducted by Iraq, Libya and Syria. He’s the only American who has ever been sentenced to life in prison for selling classified info to an ally.

Israel did not officially acknowledge that Pollard was its spy until 1998, by which time the country’s failure to support him and fight for his release had became a political issue. The Israeli government even paid for his attorneys and later granted him citizenship. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed his release. President Clinton rejected Netanyahu’s request.

At one point, the Obama administration considered freeing him as part of a broader effort to induce Israel to make concessions in a peace deal with the Palestinians, but ultimately opted not to. The negotiations collapsed, however, before that happened.

She spoke reporters in Jerusalem about her excitement regarding his release when it was announced.