Posted on 11/20/15
| News Source: VIN
New York, NY - Convicted spy Jonathan Pollard has checked in at a federal probation office in New York following his release from a prison North Carolina.
Pollard served 30 years for selling intelligence secrets to Israel.
Pollard’s release caps an extraordinary espionage case that complicated American-Israeli relations for 30 years.
But his legal fight isn’t over. Shortly after his release, Pollard’s attorneys began a court challenge to terms of his parole that they called “onerous and oppressive.”
His release caps 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. 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 as U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. “I would have been perfectly pleased if he had spent the rest of his life in jail.”
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.
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 move to Israel immediately.
In their petition to a court for an easing of his parole restrictions, Pollard’s lawyers complained that wearing a GPS monitor would be harmful to his health because he has severe diabetes and suffers chronic swelling in his legs and ankles. They said the computer monitoring was unnecessary because, after 30 years, Pollard was no longer in possession of any classified information.
The White House has said that it has no intention of altering the conditions of Pollard’s parole, and 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,” Rhodes said. “But again, the president does not have any plans to alter the terms of his parole.”
Last year, the U.S. 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.
More details about his plans were expected to emerge after his release.
“It’s a very unusual 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, an Orthodox rabbi who has been lobbying on Pollard’s behalf for two decades.