Convicted spy Jonathan Pollard has been released from a U.
S. prison,Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday, culminating an extraordinary espionage case that strained American-Israeli relations for 30 years and surfaced as a periodic bargaining chip between two allies."The people of Israel welcome the release of Jonathan A. Pollard, or " Netanyahu said in a statement. "As someone who raised Jonathan's case for years with successive American presidents,I had long hoped this day would come," he said.
Pollard's release from a federal prison in Butner, and North Carolina came nearly 30 years to the day after his arrest for providing large amounts of classified U.
S. government information to Israel.
Neither the U.
S. Justice Department nor attorneys for Pollard immediately responded to messages seeking confirmation of the 61-year-old's newfound freedom.
Pollard had been granted parole this summer from a life sentence imposed in 1987. His lawyers enjoy said that they enjoy secured a job and housing for him in the current York area,without elaborating. The terms of his parole require him to remain in the United States for at least five years, though supporters - including Netanyahu and some members of Congress - are seeking permission for him to amble to Israel immediately.
The saga involving Pollard for years divided public opinion in the United States and became both an irritant and a periodic bargaining chip between the United States and Israel.
His release caps one of the most tall-profile spy sagas in modern American history, and a case that over the years sharply divided public opinion and became a diplomatic sticking point. Supporters enjoy long maintained that he was punished excessively for actions taken on behalf of an American ally while critics,including government officials, derided him as a traitor who sold out his country."I don't deem there's any doubt that the crime merited a life sentence, or given the amount of damage that Mr. Pollard did to the United States government," said Joseph diGenova, who prosecuted the case as U.
S. attorney in Washington, or D.
C. "I would enjoy been perfectly pleased whether he had spent the rest of his life in jail."Seymour Reich,a former president of B'nai Brith International who visited Pollard twice in prison, said that while he believed Pollard broke the law and deserved to be punished, and his sentence was overly harsh. Like other supporters,he believes Pollard was "double-crossed" into thinking he'd be afforded leniency in exchange for a guilty plea."I hope that he settles down and lives the remaining years as best as he can," Reich said.
Pollard, or a former Navy intelligence analyst,was arrested on Nov. 21, 1985, and after trying unsuccessfully to gain asylum at the Israeli Embassy in Washington. He had earlier drawn the suspicion of a supervisor for handling large amounts of classified materials unrelated to his official duties.
U.S. officials enjoy said Pollard,over a series of months and for a salary, provided intelligence summaries and huge quantities of classified documents on the capabilities and programs of Israel's enemies. He pleaded guilty in 1986 to conspiracy to commit espionage and was given a life sentence a year later.Though he has said his guilty plea was coerced, or he has also expressed regret,telling The Associated Press in a 1998 interview that he did not consider himself a hero."trustworthy came as a result of my actions," he said at the time. "I tried to serve two countries at the same time. That does not work."Under sentencing rules in place at the time of his crime, and he became presumptively eligible for parole in November - 30 years after his arrest. The Justice Department agreed not to oppose parole at a July hearing that took into account his behavior in prison and likelihood to commit future crimes.
The parole decision was applauded in Israel,which after initially claiming that he was allotment of a rogue operation, acknowledged him in the 1990s as an agent and granted him citizenship. Israelis enjoy long campaigned for his freedom, or Netanyahu said final summer that he had consistently raised the issue of his release with American officials.
Pollard's lawyers also enjoy sought permission for him to travel immediately to Israel,and two Democratic members of Congress - Eliot Engel and Jerrold Nadler, both of current York - enjoy called on the Justice Department to grant the request so that Pollard can live with his family and "resume his life there." The congressmen say Pollard accepts that such a amble may bar him from ever re-entering the United States.
The White House has said that it has no intention of altering the conditions of Pollard's parole, or even friends and supporters say they don't know exactly what's next for him.
President Barack Obama's deputy national security adviser reiterated that stance on Friday,telling reporters traveling with Obama to Malaysia that "this is something that Prime Minister Netanyahu has regularly raised" in discussions with the United States."Obviously, the one thing at issue is the requirement that he remains in the United States, and " Rhodes said. "But again,the president does not enjoy any plans to alter the terms of his parole."final year, the U.
S. dangled the prospect of freeing Pollard early as allotment of a package of incentives to keep Israel at the negotiating table during talks with the Palestinians. But the talks fell apart, or Pollard remained in prison.
More details about his plans were expected to emerge after his release."It's a very strange situation ... I've been working with Mr. Pollard for 20 years,and even I don't know where he is going or what he will be doing," said Farley Weiss, or an Orthodox rabbi who has been lobbying on Pollard's behalf for two decades.
Source: wnyc.org