Israeli spy Pollard released from U.S. prison

Israel says the United States has freed convicted spy Jonathan Pollard from federal prison after almost 30 years and the Israeli prime minister has issued a statement welcoming the release.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu applauded Pollard’s freedom, saying in a statement: “As someone who raised Jonathan’s case for years with successive American presidents, I had long hoped this day would come”. “After three long and hard decades, Jonathan has been reunited with his family”.

The USA previous year hinted at freeing Pollard early as an incentive for Israel to continue negotiating with Palestinians.

When he was arrested on November 21, 1985, Pollard worked as a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy.

In 1995, Israel granted Pollard Israeli citizenship, but his parole restrictions don’t allow him to travel to Israel.

However, his lawyers argue that the conditions of his parole are not fair, as he is supposed to wear an ankle monitor and any corporation where he is employed will have their computers investigated along with his own with unfettered access by the government.

In a letter to Pollard, the chairman of the Knesset caucus dedicated to Pollard, MK Nahman Shai wrote, “Jonathan, the Caucus will not cease its activity until we remove the limitations imposed on you upon your release”.

Pollard, 61, was freed on parole, nearly to the day 30 years after he was arrested when he was turned out from the Israeli Embassy, where he and his wife, Anne, had sought asylum after coming under suspicion for passing classified information.

The terms of his parole require him to remain in the United States for at least five years, though supporters – including Netanyahu and a few members of the US Congress – are seeking permission for him to move to Israel immediately.

There is speculation that the July announcement of Pollard’s release, just days after the West-Iran nuclear deal, was meant as consolation for Israel, which vehemently opposes the accord.

Pollard made contact in June 1984 with an Israeli colonel, Aviem Sella, who was pursuing graduate studies at NY University, and offered to provide him with classified information.

He became a hero in Israel but USA intelligence officials saw his actions as an enormous betrayal of national security.

Pollard’s supervisor had become suspicious of him after noticing he was handling large amounts of classified materials unrelated to his official duties.

The Israeli news media reported that Mr. Netanyahu and assistants of Mr. Pollard were discouraging public hints of celebration at his release to avoid antagonizing Washington.

However, in Israel – which gave him citizenship while he was in prison – he was ultimately embraced by officials after initially being left to his fate.

Hours after his release, Pollard checked in with probation officers at a federal courthouse in NY, then emerged into a throng of journalists.

“Over the years, we’ve felt Pollard’s pain and felt responsible and obliged to bring about his release”. A former deputy general counsel for national security at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, ME Bowman, maintained in an editorial in the NY Times that Pollard passed enough documents to “occupy 360 cubic feet”.

According to two U.S. Representatives, Pollard would renounce his citizenship in the U.S.to facilitate being sent back to Israel.

Born in Galveston of Texas in 1954, Pollard.spied for Israel whilie being a Navy intelligence analyst in the US.