The U.S. Department of Justice will not allow former Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard to serve the remainder of his parole probation in Israel, according to multiple reports late Wednesday emanating from the United States.
The DOJ denied the request submitted by Pollard’s attorney on October 1 — although the denial only became public this week — due to the “seriousness of the offense” and “serious law enforcement concerns.”
Pollard was arrested in 1985, convicted and then sentenced in 1987 to life in prison on a single count of passing classified information to an ally, Israel. He was released on “mandatory parole” in 2015 after serving two-thirds of the sentence.
However, Pollard is still living with severe, unprecedented restrictions such as a house arrest that includes a 7:00 pm to 7:00 am curfew, travel restrictions that limit him solely to parts of Manhattan — where he lives — during the daytime hours, round-the-clock wearing of a GPS monitoring system (which forces him to violate the Sabbath and Jewish holidays), and free monitoring and inspection of his computers and of any employer who might hire him.
In addition to destroying his Sabbath observance, the parole commission also did whatever was possible to destroy Pollard’s ability to make a living — successfully — by insisting on unfettered access to, and monitoring of computers belonging to any employer who hired him.
