Jonathan Pollard Released: What Will Convicted Spy Do After Leaving Prison

Convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard who was released from a US federal prison in North Carolina overnight, leaves US District court in the Manhattan borough of NY.

“The people of Israel welcome the release of Jonathan Pollard”, said Netanyahu, who had long pressed for the spy’s release.

“After 30 long and hard years, Jonathan Pollard is finally reuniting with his family”, Netanyahu’s spokesperson posted on Twitter.

He will serve five years of parole in NY, during which time Pollard will wear an electronic monitor, CNN.com said. As part of the standard terms of the parole, he is not allowed to leave the country, foiling his desire to move to Israel.

His was among the highest-profile spy sagas in modern American history, a case that became a diplomatic sticking point. “So every Shabbat we’re praying for Jonathan Pollard’s release”.

U.S. officials have said that Pollard committed the security breach over a series of months and for a salary provided by the Israeli government.

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.

Pollard, 61, was given a life sentence in 1987 in a case that has complicated diplomacy between the two countries.

The White House has said it does not plan to alter any part of the parole. One of his lawyers and a USA marshal, grasping Pollard firmly by the arm, escorted him through the crowd of jostling photographers to a vehicle.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said he hoped Pollard’s first Shabbat as a free man “would symbolize a new path ahead for him”, while Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog wrote simply “Blessed is He who frees the imprisoned”. The GPS requirement was “reasonably related to the need to deter you from further criminal conduct”, the appeals board said, although, according to the filing by Lauer and Semmelman, the board did not explain how Pollard, 30 years in prison, would be able to spy now that he’s out.

Pollard’s lawyers announced that they had filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the conditions, which they described as “onerous and oppressive” on the basis of the fact that the Justice Department conceded it was “reasonably probable” he would not commit more crimes now that he’s out when they decided not to oppose the release.

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

Israel admitted in the 1990s that Pollard was its agent and granted him citizenship.

State Department Spokesman John Kirby added that he was “not aware of any such conversations” that would ease Pollard’s parole, noting that the Justice Department would handle Pollard’s parole “according to standard procedures”.

Their biggest problem is that Pollard will be required to stay in the United States. The organization said in a statement that after leaving the prison before dawn, the Pollards arrived at the apartment where they will spend the weekend and are grateful for those who lobbied on their behalf.

The Parole Commission may end his parole at any time, but is not obliged to reconsider its terms for two years.