US analyst who spied for Israel to be paroled after 30 years

Jonathan Pollard, the former U.S. Naval intelligence analyst whose conviction of spying for Israel stoked fierce international passions, has been granted parole and will be released from prison in November after nearly 30 years. He has been incarcerated since his arrest on November 21, 1985, outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, and subsequent conviction for spying for Israel.

The decision to free Pollard from his life sentence, announced Tuesday by his lawyers and then confirmed by the Justice Department, caps an extraordinary espionage case after decades of legal and diplomatic wrangling. Critics have condemned the American as a traitor who betrayed his country for money and disclosed damaging secrets, while supporters have argued that he was punished excessively given that he spied for a U.S. ally. In some ways the dispute continues. His lawyers say they will ask President Barack Obama for clemency and to allow Pollard to travel from the United States to Israel. The White House dismisses that prospect, saying Pollard had committed "very serious crimes" and would serve his sentence under the law. "We are looking forward to his release," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Tuesday. The Pollard case has been a divisive political flashpoint and an occasional diplomatic bargaining chip from the day in 1985 he was arrested while trying to gain asylum at the Israeli Embassy in Washington. Pollard will be released on parole on November 21, his lawyers said. Even as many American Jews have wrestled with how much leniency Pollard should get, Israelis have long campaigned for his freedom. The government there has recognized him as an Israeli agent and granted him citizenship. Still, recent American presidents have rejected overtures to free him, with former President Bill Clinton writing in his memoir that Pollard's release "was a hard case" to push.

Netanyahu said in Israel, "Throughout his time in prison, I consistently raised the issue of his release in my meetings and conversations with the leadership of successive U.S. administrations." "Immense joy," Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked wrote in Hebrew on her Facebook page, adding that "30 years of suffering will come to an end this November."

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. Though the decision was announced just weeks after the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, US Secretary of State John Kerry strongly denied that Pollard's release was related to the Iran nuclear agreement, which Israel has vehemently opposed. Officials there have said that while they would welcome his release, it would not ease their opposition to the Iran agreement.

The Justice Department, for its part, noted that federal sentencing rules in place at the time of Pollard's prosecution entitled him to parole after 30 years of his life sentence. Department lawyers did not contest his parole bid, which was granted following a hearing this month before the Parole Commission. 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. His lawyers say they have secured housing and a job for Pollard in the New York area. Parolees are required for five years after their release to get government permission for foreign travel. "The president has no intention of altering the terms of Mr. Pollard's parole," said Alistair Baskey, a spokesman for the White House's National Security Council.

Pollard has faced health problems in recent years. He is being held in the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina. His lawyers said he was "looking forward to being reunited with his beloved wife, Esther." His supporters maintain that he provided information critical to Israel's security interests at a time when the country was under threat from its Middle East neighbors. Prosecutors and many in the U.S. intelligence community say that his disclosure of voluminous classified documents constituted a criminal breach on par with that of America's most infamous spies. The U.S. has said Pollard provided reams of sensitive and classified information to Israel, including details about radar-jamming techniques and the electronic capabilities of nations hostile to Israel, including Saudi Arabia. A court statement from then-Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger said Pollard did "irrevocable" damage to the U.S. and had provided the Israelis with more than 800 U.S. classified publications and more than 1,000 classified messages and cables. Portions of the Weinberger document that have been declassified state that Pollard admitted passing to his Israeli contacts "an incredibly large quantity of classified documents" and that U.S. troops could be endangered because of the theft.

The relations between the U.S. and Israel has been stranded especially after the Iran nuclear talks which was reached on July 14. Since the beginning of the debates on the deal, Israel has been the vocal critic of the agreement. Benjamin Netanyahu blasted that the deal was a "stunning historic mistake" and pointedly noted that his country is not bound by the agreement. Netanyahu criticized the agreement as it will "legitimize" Tehran's nuclear programme, bolster the economy and "increase Iran's aggression and terror throughout the Middle East."