Jonathan Pollard, 61, was released from prison in the pre-dawn hours Friday morning, 30 years after having been incarcerated for handing over classified Pentagon information on behalf of Israel.
Many of America’s media still report that he was a spy even though he never was convicted for espionage.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Friday:
The people of Israel welcome the release of Jonathan Pollard. As someone who raised Jonathan’s case for years with successive American presidents, I had long hoped this day would come.
After three long and difficult decades, Jonathan has been reunited with his family. May this Sabbath bring him much joy and peace that will continue in the years and decades ahead.
His freedom is limited by his having to report to a parole officer. Pollard’s release is conditioned on good behavior. He is not allowed to leave the United States for five years, but lawyers are lobbying federal officials to lift the restrictions. One report is that he might be able to leave the country on condition that he renounces his American citizenship.
Both the Obama and Netanyahu administrations are keeping his release low key. Officials purposely released him in the pre-dawn hours to lower the level of publicity.
Prime Minister Netanyahu told ministers and Knesset Members to keep a low profile over Pollard’s release and not to meet him as he left prison, probably in order to hurt his chances of winning a cancellation of conditions on his release.
He will undergo medical examinations, and an investment firm reportedly has promised him a job as an analyst.
