Jonathan Pollard: Convicted Israel spy released by US after 30 years

The fate of Mr Pollard had been a point of contention between the US and Israel for many years

Jonathan Pollard was jailed for life in 1987 (AP)

For years, Jonathan Pollard has dreamed of being freed from jail and travelling to Israel - the country for which he spied and which later granted him citizenship.

But though Pollard was freed from a US jail on Friday morning after serving almost 30 years behind bars, his wishes will not become reality anytime soon. The parole conditions for the man whose incarceration have over the years complicated relations between the US and its Middle East ally, mean he will have to remain in the US for another five years.

"As someone who has raised Jonathan Pollard's case for many years with US presidents, I have wished for this day,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday, adding that the Israeli people welcomed his release.

Campaigners in Israel have long demanded the release of Mr Pollard (Getty)

His ex-wife, Anne, who lives in Israel, told Army Radio: “I have waited for this day for 30 long years, unbelievable.”

The former US navy analyst was jailed for life in 1987 for passing classified information to Israel. Repeated appeals for clemency from Israel, which belatedly admitted to having recruited and paid Pollard, were rejected and many senior US politicians over the years insisted the damage he did to US security was far worse than the public ever knew.

The release of the now 61-year-old from a federal prison in Butner, North Carolina, came nearly 30 years to the day after his arrest for providing large amounts of classified US government information.

He had been arrested after arousing the suspicion of his supervisors and was eventually detained while he and his wife tried to enter the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC to seek asylum. She was arrested the next day.

Ed Ross, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, said that “as of this morning, Jonathan Pollard is no longer in BOP custody.”

Pollard had been granted parole this summer from a life sentence imposed in 1987. His lawyers have said that they have secured a job and housing for him in the New York area, without elaborating. it was later reported he would be working for an investment bank.

The terms of his parole require him to remain in the United States for at least five years, though supporters — including Mr Netanyahu and some members of Congress — are seeking permission for him to move to Israel immediately.

The Associated Press said his release capped one of the most high-profile spy sagas in modern American history, a case that over the years sharply divided public opinion and became a diplomatic sticking point.

Pollard was detained in 1985 (Wikicommons)

Supporters have 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 think there's any doubt that the crime merited a life sentence, given the amount of damage that Mr. Pollard did to the United States government,” said Joseph diGenova, who prosecuted the case.

"I would have been perfectly pleased if 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, 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," Mr Reich said.

Prosectors said Pollard, over a series of months and for a salary paid by Israel, provided intelligence summaries and huge quantities of classified documents on the capabilities and programmes 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, he has also expressed regret, telling the AP in a 1998 interview that he did not consider himself a hero.

“I tried to serve two countries at the same time,” he said. “That does not work."

Pollard's lawyers also have sought permission for him to travel immediately to Israel, and two Democratic members of Congress — Eliot Engel and Jerrold Nadler, both of New York — have 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 move may bar him from ever re-entering the United States.

Last year, the US dangled the prospect of freeing Pollard early as part of a package of incentives to keep Israel at the negotiating table during talks with the Palestinians. But the talks fell apart, and Pollard remained in prison.