On Friday, Jonathan Pollard, 61, is scheduled to be released from a federal prison in North Carolina and will likely head north to live in New York. Pollard, a former Navy intelligence analyst, was arrested in 1985 for passing classified secrets to Israel and sentenced in 1987 to life in prison. Under the terms of his parole, he will not be able to leave the U.S. for at least five years without permission, and will be monitored. A supporter, Rabbi Peach Lener, said on a radio program earlier in November that Pollard will have to wear a GPS tracker and stay off the internet.
Pollard is viewed as a hero by many Israelis, and successive Israeli leaders have sought his release, only to be told no by successive U.S. presidents. Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked President Obama about letting Pollard move to Israel, where his wife lives, but Obama declined to step in, according to Israeli media and U.S. officials. The White House also did not object to Pollard getting parole. Two Democratic lawmakers from New York also asked U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to let Pollard renounce his U.S. citizenship and move to Israel, where he was granted citizenship in prison, and never return. The Justice Department is not considering that request. The intelligence community is strongly opposed to giving Pollard any lenient treatment.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Gaetz ethics report in limbo as sex allegations emergeSpeed Read A lawyer representing two women alleges that Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, and one witnessed him having sex with minor
-
Today's political cartoons - November 19, 2024Cartoons Tuesday's cartoons - junk food, health drinks, and more
-
Band Aid 40: time to change the tune?In the Spotlight Band Aid's massively popular 1984 hit raised around £8m for famine relief in Ethiopia and the charity has generated over £140m in total
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
