In a few ways the dispute continues.
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The legal team representing Pollard in the United States noted that Pollard was being released under very restrictive conditions, which could include a travel ban to Israel for the first five years, but that President Obama could issue a waiver on this ban.
“We respectfully urge the president to exercise his clemency power in this manner”, the lawyers said.
South Bend native Jonathan Pollard is being paroled after spending 30 years in prison for selling classified information to Israel. Critics condemned the American as a traitor who betrayed his country for money.
“He took an oath to support the constitution of the United States, and he failed it”, said M.E. “Spike” Bowman, the director of Naval Intelligence at the time of Pollard’s arrest. “I’m glad that it was an ally rather than the Russians, but what he did makes absolutely no difference”. And that’s what Israeli leaders did for many years. That determination set up the most recent review, his lawyers said. Obama administration officials, however, said Pollard is a criminal justice issue, not a diplomatic one.
The U.S. had dangled the prospect of Pollard’s release during Israel-Palestinian talks last year, but the peace efforts collapsed and nothing came of the proposal.
Pollard is an Orthodox Jew, so the Parole Commission will allow him to be released November. 20, a day earlier than his mandatory parole date, which falls on the Jewish Sabbath. And Israeli officials have said that while they would welcome the release, it would not ease their opposition to the Iran agreement.
Esther Pollard, who married her husband while he was serving out his prison sentence, did not say when she expected Pollard might return to Israel. He was presumptively entitled to parole provided he had a record of good behavior in prison and was seen as unlikely to commit future crimes once released. In that case, his attorneys signaled he would likely move to the New York area. Israeli media reported that Pollard would not be able to travel overseas for five years after his release. Israelis say that other Americans who have done similar crimes were released a lot earlier. They also asked the White House to let Mr. Pollard move to Israel, which granted him citizenship in 1995.
The White House stance has angered advocates of Pollard, who has had health problems. “There was never official disclosure of the full array of information that Pollard had access to and provided to Israel”.
“I can hardly wait”, Esther Pollard said in front of cameras in Jerusalem on Wednesday, after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I’m counting the days, the hours, the minutes, the seconds until I can take him into my arms and we can close the door on the past behind us, to begin to heal and to rebuild our lives”. But of course, we can’t know. So she said the U.S. showed no generosity or kindheartedness on the issue.
The decision to grant him parole, made unanimously by the three members of the Parole Commission, was later confirmed by the US Justice Department.
A court statement from then-Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger said Pollard did “irrevocable” damage to the U.S. and had provided the Israelis with many U.S. classified publications and classified messages and cables. But the U.S. government says neither of those apply.
“There is no proof he harmed the security of the United States”.
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“We look forward to seeing our client on the outside in less than four months”, lawyers Eliot Lauer and Jacques Semmelman said in a joint statement.
