Now, some U.S. officials are pushing for Pollard’s release in a matter of weeks.
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With his 30th anniversary in prison approaching in November, Pollard is due to be reviewed for parole.
In 1998, then-CIA Director George Tenet reportedly torpedoed a 1998 deal to release Pollard by threatening to quit if it went through.
The White House is denying a published report that said convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard may be freed early to smooth relations with Israel that have been wounded by a nuclear deal with Iran. “There is absolutely zero linkage between Mr. Pollard’s status and foreign policy considerations”, as mentioned by Alistair Baskey, an NSC spokesperson.
Pollard, who is serving a life sentence after admitting to passing classified information to Israel in 1987, could be released after a November. 21 parole hearing, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
A Justice Department spokesman, Marc Raimondi, told Al Jazeera in a statement that the DOJ “has always and continues to maintain that Jonathan Pollard should serve his full sentence for the serious crimes he committed”.
His supporters say he is in poor health and spying for a US ally should not have brought down a life sentence. Pollard has also been a bargaining chip in previous US-Israeli diplomatic spats, most recently last year as the Obama administration sought concessions from Israel in order to salvage peace talks with the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have lobbied US administrations for decades to release Pollard.
Much of the debate surrounding the nuclear deal with Iran announced last week has centered around Israel’s reaction-and what the United States might offer the Israeli government to tamp down its anger over the agreement.
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Pollard was paid around $50,000 for his leaks, and he hoped eventually to earn more than 10 times that amount.
