U.S. officials said that while Pollard was ordered to serve life in prison, the terms of his sentence made him eligible for mandatory parole after 30 years, a period he will have completed this fall. U.S. and Israeli officials said Pollard would be freed on November 21.
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“Regarding influencing relations between the U.S. and Israel – whether the personal relationship or the formal relationship between the two states – Pollard as an asset already lost his value”, Eran said.
Jonathan Pollard, who has been imprisoned for 30 years for spying for Israel, has been granted parole following a unanimous vote by a federal parole panel.
A Jewish-American, Pollard was granted Israeli citizenship while in prison and is viewed by many in Israel as a victim of broader political and diplomatic tensions between the United States and its ally.
“Thirty years of suffering will come to an end this November; not though kindness but through the law”, Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked wrote in Hebrew on Facebook.
They said the decision to grant him parole, which followed a July 7 hearing, was “not connected to recent developments in the Middle East” – an apparent reference to a recent nuclear deal that the U.S. struck with Iran and that Israel had bitterly opposed.
White House and other officials have adamantly denied that Pollard’s planned release is in any way tied to the Iran nuclear deal.
Pollard’s plea agreement with the government was violated, as he was given a life sentence with a recommendation that he never be paroled.
It’s not clear whether Pollard, 61, will be allowed to travel immediately to Israel once he is paroled.
Pollard is due to be released on November 21, three decades after he was arrested while trying to gain asylum at the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
Pollard is being held in the federal prison in Butner, N.C. Pollard was a civilian analyst for the U.S. Navy when he in 1984 and 1985 removed many classified documents from his office and made copies of them, which he handed to Israeli intelligence operatives.
Former CIA director Michael Hayden, who had opposed early release, said “there may be a little grumbling here and there in the intelligence community” now that Pollard is set for release. Pollard was looking forward to being reunited with his second wife Esther, a Canadian who campaigned for his release, his lawyers said. Israel’s government admitted paying him for the intelligence in 1998.
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Pollard cooperated extensively with U.S. investigators after his guilty plea, providing insights into Israeli espionage programs and priorities. If denied parole, he would have been required to serve an additional 15 years at the North Carolina prison.
