Jewboo
20th November 2015, 08:33 AM
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Pollard, jew spy for Israel, released from prison after 30 years
Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. Navy analyst turned spy for Israel, walked out of a North Carolina prison before dawn Friday, ending one of the thorniest points of friction between the United States and its close ally.
Pollard, 61, was freed on parole, almost to the day 30 years after he was arrested when he was turned out from the Israeli Embassy, where he and his wife, Anne, had sought asylum after coming under suspicion for passing classified information.
Pollard's lawyer has said he has a job and a residence waiting in New York. Israeli media reported that Pollard and his second wife, Esther, whom he married 20 years ago while in prison, were on their way there.
[Obama stays out of quarrel over Pollard release rules (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-will-not-intervene-to-allow-jonathan-pollard-to-leave-for-israel/2015/11/09/38e9c688-872f-11e5-be39-0034bb576eee_story.html)]
Esther Pollard released a photo of the two of them, with him sitting and her standing behind him leaning on his shoulders. He is bald with a white beard and fluffy tufts of white hair around his ears. He is smiling, seemingly reluctantly.
The Pollard saga still has at least one more chapter to play out. He was granted Israeli citizenship while he was in prison after being convicted on one count of espionage. Two lawmakers have said he is ready to renounce his American citizenship so he can move to Israel, where his wife lives.
But one condition of his parole is that he cannot leave the United States for five years. His many supporters in Israel and the United States have vowed to continue fighting for U.S. permission to let him leave.
Though Pollard was branded a traitor in the United States, many in Israel considered him a Jewish-American hero, who had acted out of conviction to protect the Jewish state.
The reaction in Israel, where leaders have lobbied a succession of U.S. administrations to release Pollard, was welcoming to the man who passed to his Israeli handler classified information that included satellite photos of the Palestine Liberation Organization's headquarters in Tunis, which Israel later used to guide air strikes on the Tunisian capital.
[Why Israel wants Pollard (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/03/31/jonathan-pollard-why-israel-wants-him-free-why-the-u-s-doesnt-and-what-might-happen-next/)]
“After three long and difficult decades, Jonathan has been reunited with his family," said a statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has reportedly ordered his cabinet ministers to tamp down their enthusiasm and not talk publicly about Pollard so as not to irritate President Obama while seeking permission for Pollard to come to Israel.
"May this Sabbath bring him much joy and peace that will continue in the years and decades ahead. As someone who raised Jonathan’s case for years with successive American presidents, I had long hoped this day would come,” said Netanyahu, who raised the issue of Pollard’s release most recently with Obama last week in Washington.
Efi Lahav, head of the Free Jonathan Pollard Campaign, said that “it was a special and dramatic day bringing to an end 30 years of pain and hurt while he sat in jail.”
Pollard's release was pushed up a few hours, apparently to avoid a media onslaught. Israeli media reported that Pollard had been expected to be released at 6 a.m., but the release happened two hours earlier.
Lahav said that Esther Pollard messaged his supporters to let them know that he was now free.
“He is now in a better place, free and safe, with his wife. He is happy,” said Lahav.
Lahav said the family had decided not share too many details about Pollard’s release, because they felt it was more important “to take care of him and make sure he starts his new life properly.”
[Pollard’s prominent critics (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/04/01/a-small-selection-of-the-very-negative-things-u-s-officials-have-said-about-jonathan-pollard/)]
“We have decided that this is the best way to for him to leave jail, make sure he is safe and happy,” added Lahav.
He said that in time they will consider how to best deal with the wide restrictions that have been placed on Pollard. He is required to get permission from his probation officer before he leaves the district where he resides, and his access to the Internet — which was not around when he was arrested — is limited.
“He is a free man but there are so many conditions that have been placed on his release that it hurts his freedom,” said Israeli parliamentarian Nachman Shai, head of the Knesset Caucus for the release of Jonathan Pollard.
“We will continue the struggle for his full release from jail because it seems like he is not allowed to conduct a normal life . . . he should be fully released not only literally released,” said Shai.
Anne Pollard, his ex-wife, told Army Radio in Israel that she has "been waiting for this day for 30 long years. It's unbelievable. It's an amazing moment."
She said she expects to talk privately to Pollard sometime in the future. "We will have an opportunity to speak alone, without cameras," she said. "We will be able to have a private, amazing conversation for the first time in 30 years."
Anne Pollard, was sentenced to five years for her role in the espionage, but was granted early release in 1989.
According to unconfirmed accounts over the years, Pollard was never recruited as a spy. Rather, he volunteered. The Jerusalem Post recently reported that when Pollard was 16, he attended a summer camp in Israel and asked to become a spy. Even as a high school student in Indiana and while in college, he boasted of being a colonel in the Israeli army. He later told colleagues he had been "cultivated" by the Mossad to spy on the United States.
In 1984, he was introduced to an Israeli military officer on sabbatical in New York and told of his desire to serve Israel. Soon he was assigned a case officer and began providing stolen documents from his job at the Naval Intelligence Center for Counter Terrorism in Maryland. Among them were documents related to Arab troops, the PLO, and the chemical and biological warfare programs conducted by Iraq, Libya and Syria.
Though Pollard said he acted out of loyalty to Israel, it was disclosed during trial that Israel paid him about $50,000 — and even bought for him a diamond ring that he gave to the woman who became his first wife.
Though the full scope of his activities has never been disclosed, then-Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger wrote a letter to the presiding judge describing Pollard as one of the most damaging spies who ever operated in the United States.
Israel initially denied that Pollard was working for them, saying he had been working with "rogue" officials. But it granted him citizenship in 1995, and in 1997 acknowledged he had been their agent.
Supporters, arguing that his sentence was unduly harsh, campaigned heavily for his release. But officials at the CIA, the FBI and other agencies objected vociferously.
In 1998, then-CIA Director George J. Tenet threatened to resign after Netanyahu tried to make Pollard's release a provision of Middle East peace talks with the Palestinians. President Clinton rejected Netanyahu's request.
The first time Obama visited Israel as president, in 2013, more than 100,000 Israelis signed a petition asking that Pollard be freed. The administration considered freeing Pollard in 2014 if Israel would make concessions to the Palestinians in their quest for statehood.. The negotiations collapsed, however, before that happened.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pollard-spy-for-israel-released-from-prison-after-30-years/2015/11/20/395cab88-2679-418c-a964-4efbc32b9771_story.html
Pollard, jew spy for Israel, released from prison after 30 years
Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. Navy analyst turned spy for Israel, walked out of a North Carolina prison before dawn Friday, ending one of the thorniest points of friction between the United States and its close ally.
Pollard, 61, was freed on parole, almost to the day 30 years after he was arrested when he was turned out from the Israeli Embassy, where he and his wife, Anne, had sought asylum after coming under suspicion for passing classified information.
Pollard's lawyer has said he has a job and a residence waiting in New York. Israeli media reported that Pollard and his second wife, Esther, whom he married 20 years ago while in prison, were on their way there.
[Obama stays out of quarrel over Pollard release rules (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-will-not-intervene-to-allow-jonathan-pollard-to-leave-for-israel/2015/11/09/38e9c688-872f-11e5-be39-0034bb576eee_story.html)]
Esther Pollard released a photo of the two of them, with him sitting and her standing behind him leaning on his shoulders. He is bald with a white beard and fluffy tufts of white hair around his ears. He is smiling, seemingly reluctantly.
The Pollard saga still has at least one more chapter to play out. He was granted Israeli citizenship while he was in prison after being convicted on one count of espionage. Two lawmakers have said he is ready to renounce his American citizenship so he can move to Israel, where his wife lives.
But one condition of his parole is that he cannot leave the United States for five years. His many supporters in Israel and the United States have vowed to continue fighting for U.S. permission to let him leave.
Though Pollard was branded a traitor in the United States, many in Israel considered him a Jewish-American hero, who had acted out of conviction to protect the Jewish state.
The reaction in Israel, where leaders have lobbied a succession of U.S. administrations to release Pollard, was welcoming to the man who passed to his Israeli handler classified information that included satellite photos of the Palestine Liberation Organization's headquarters in Tunis, which Israel later used to guide air strikes on the Tunisian capital.
[Why Israel wants Pollard (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/03/31/jonathan-pollard-why-israel-wants-him-free-why-the-u-s-doesnt-and-what-might-happen-next/)]
“After three long and difficult decades, Jonathan has been reunited with his family," said a statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has reportedly ordered his cabinet ministers to tamp down their enthusiasm and not talk publicly about Pollard so as not to irritate President Obama while seeking permission for Pollard to come to Israel.
"May this Sabbath bring him much joy and peace that will continue in the years and decades ahead. As someone who raised Jonathan’s case for years with successive American presidents, I had long hoped this day would come,” said Netanyahu, who raised the issue of Pollard’s release most recently with Obama last week in Washington.
Efi Lahav, head of the Free Jonathan Pollard Campaign, said that “it was a special and dramatic day bringing to an end 30 years of pain and hurt while he sat in jail.”
Pollard's release was pushed up a few hours, apparently to avoid a media onslaught. Israeli media reported that Pollard had been expected to be released at 6 a.m., but the release happened two hours earlier.
Lahav said that Esther Pollard messaged his supporters to let them know that he was now free.
“He is now in a better place, free and safe, with his wife. He is happy,” said Lahav.
Lahav said the family had decided not share too many details about Pollard’s release, because they felt it was more important “to take care of him and make sure he starts his new life properly.”
[Pollard’s prominent critics (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/04/01/a-small-selection-of-the-very-negative-things-u-s-officials-have-said-about-jonathan-pollard/)]
“We have decided that this is the best way to for him to leave jail, make sure he is safe and happy,” added Lahav.
He said that in time they will consider how to best deal with the wide restrictions that have been placed on Pollard. He is required to get permission from his probation officer before he leaves the district where he resides, and his access to the Internet — which was not around when he was arrested — is limited.
“He is a free man but there are so many conditions that have been placed on his release that it hurts his freedom,” said Israeli parliamentarian Nachman Shai, head of the Knesset Caucus for the release of Jonathan Pollard.
“We will continue the struggle for his full release from jail because it seems like he is not allowed to conduct a normal life . . . he should be fully released not only literally released,” said Shai.
Anne Pollard, his ex-wife, told Army Radio in Israel that she has "been waiting for this day for 30 long years. It's unbelievable. It's an amazing moment."
She said she expects to talk privately to Pollard sometime in the future. "We will have an opportunity to speak alone, without cameras," she said. "We will be able to have a private, amazing conversation for the first time in 30 years."
Anne Pollard, was sentenced to five years for her role in the espionage, but was granted early release in 1989.
According to unconfirmed accounts over the years, Pollard was never recruited as a spy. Rather, he volunteered. The Jerusalem Post recently reported that when Pollard was 16, he attended a summer camp in Israel and asked to become a spy. Even as a high school student in Indiana and while in college, he boasted of being a colonel in the Israeli army. He later told colleagues he had been "cultivated" by the Mossad to spy on the United States.
In 1984, he was introduced to an Israeli military officer on sabbatical in New York and told of his desire to serve Israel. Soon he was assigned a case officer and began providing stolen documents from his job at the Naval Intelligence Center for Counter Terrorism in Maryland. Among them were documents related to Arab troops, the PLO, and the chemical and biological warfare programs conducted by Iraq, Libya and Syria.
Though Pollard said he acted out of loyalty to Israel, it was disclosed during trial that Israel paid him about $50,000 — and even bought for him a diamond ring that he gave to the woman who became his first wife.
Though the full scope of his activities has never been disclosed, then-Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger wrote a letter to the presiding judge describing Pollard as one of the most damaging spies who ever operated in the United States.
Israel initially denied that Pollard was working for them, saying he had been working with "rogue" officials. But it granted him citizenship in 1995, and in 1997 acknowledged he had been their agent.
Supporters, arguing that his sentence was unduly harsh, campaigned heavily for his release. But officials at the CIA, the FBI and other agencies objected vociferously.
In 1998, then-CIA Director George J. Tenet threatened to resign after Netanyahu tried to make Pollard's release a provision of Middle East peace talks with the Palestinians. President Clinton rejected Netanyahu's request.
The first time Obama visited Israel as president, in 2013, more than 100,000 Israelis signed a petition asking that Pollard be freed. The administration considered freeing Pollard in 2014 if Israel would make concessions to the Palestinians in their quest for statehood.. The negotiations collapsed, however, before that happened.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pollard-spy-for-israel-released-from-prison-after-30-years/2015/11/20/395cab88-2679-418c-a964-4efbc32b9771_story.html