NY (AP) – Jonathan Pollard was released from prison Friday after 30 years behind bars for spying for Israel, and his lawyers immediately went to court to challenge tough parole conditions seemingly created to ensure he doesn’t spill any USA military secrets he might have left.
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Israel had long supported Pollard’s cause and hoped that the USA government would release him soon, but despite their attempts at convincing the presidents who served during the last 30 years – from Reagan to Obama- none of them deemed Pollard worthy enough for release yet until today. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested President Barack Obama not prohibit Pollard from leaving the USA, a standard prohibition for parolees. “After three long and hard decades, Jonathan is finally reunited with his family”.
Pollard, a former intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy, was arrested in 1985, eventually pleading guilty to giving Israel classified documents.
In 1995, Israel granted Pollard Israeli citizenship, but his parole restrictions don’t allow him to travel to Israel.
The White House has said that it has no intention of altering the conditions of Pollard’s parole, and even friends and supporters say they don’t know exactly what’s next for him.
He will be required to wear an electronic bracelet so his movements can be monitored at all times, and his computers and those of his employer will be subjected to “unfettered monitoring and inspection”, his lawyers said. In July, the US indicated that it would not contest his release when Pollard became eligible for parole this month.
Although the release was seen as a festive moment, Ariel urged Israelis to “remember the harsh attitude” of senior USA officials over the years, including what he said was a presidential promise from Obama in his first term that was not kept. He referred questions to the Justice Department. He is the only person to have received a life sentence for spying on the United States for an ally.
Pollard had been granted parole this summer from a life sentence imposed in 1987. He lawyers said they arranged for work for him somewhere in the NY area.
Family and friends talked Friday about the small things in life that Pollard will now enjoy – a Shabbat dinner reportedly cooked by his wife, saying the blessing over the wine, and spending time with his wife and friends. Many in the American intelligence establishment opposed any leniency for the former USA naval intelligence officer who passed sensitive information to Jerusalem. He is also not permitted to leave the country for five years, which Haaretz reports could be reduced based on a review hearing in two years, though also possibly extended.
Pollard’s supervisor had become suspicious of him after noticing he was handling large amounts of classified materials unrelated to his official duties.
In Israel, Pollard’s many supporters saw him as having been harshly punished for providing information critical to the country’s national security.
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At the time, the Wall Street Journal reported (paywall) that intelligence agencies’ resistance to letting Pollard out had weakened substantially, “to the point where a few in the agencies are willing to say that 30 years is punishment enough”. 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.
