BICOM

Convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard will be released on parole from a US prison today, having been incarcerated since 1985. However, it remains unclear whether he will be allowed to leave the country for Israel.

Pollard was a civilian intelligence analyst for the US Navy when he was recruited by Israeli agents in the 1980s. When it became clear that his espionage had been uncovered, Pollard attempted to seek asylum at the Israeli Embassy in Washington but was denied. He was instead arrested and handed a life sentence. However, the unusual longevity of his imprisonment has led to some Israeli leaders to call for Pollard’s release, a cause also championed by Senator John McCain, former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and George Schultz and former CIA director James Woolsey.

Having served thirty years of a life sentence, Pollard has been granted parole and will be released from a federal prison in Butner, North Carolina today. He is expected to initially work and live in New York in accordance with the terms of his parole, which also bar Pollard from leaving the country for five years. It has been reported that Pollard, who has been granted Israeli citizenship, has offered to renounce his American citizenship if he is allowed to move to Israel immediately. However, there has been no indication that US officials are prepared to alter Pollard’s parole conditions, despite reports that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked US President Barack Obama to facilitate the request.

The issue of Pollard’s espionage and subsequent US refusal to commute his sentence has been a point of tension between Israel and the United States during the past three decades. However, Israeli leaders and government ministers have been noticeably quiet prior to Pollard’s release. The Walla news site reports that Netanyahu has instructed ministers to stay away from the topic in order to avoid a potential spat with Obama.