Jonathan Pollard, to be paroled Novemberv20

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Tue, Jul 28 2015, 3:37 pm

http://www.timesofisrael.com/p.....orts/

Jonathan Pollard, convicted spy for Israel, to be paroled November 20
Lawyers for former US Navy analyst pass on his thanks to supporters, urge Obama to allow him to leave US for Israel BY REBECCA SHIMONI STOIL AND TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF
July 28, 2015, 8:25 pm 10

Jonathan Pollard, the former civilian analyst for the US Navy convicted of spying for Israel, will be released from US jail on November 20 after serving 30 years of a life sentence.

“The decision to grant parole was made unanimously by the three members of the [US] Parole Commission, who make their decisions independently of any other US government agency,” Pollard’s lawyers said in a statement. “The decision is not connected to recent developments in the Middle East.”

In a statement Tuesday evening, Israel’s Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked also confirmed Pollard’s impending release.

Pollard was formally eligible for parole on November 21, but will be freed a day earlier — Friday the 20th — as the 21st is a Saturday, Channel 2 television said.

Under the terms of his parole, Pollard will not be able to leave the US for five years, Channel 2 said, although President Barack Obama can overrule this condition.

His lawyers, Eliot Lauer and Jacques Semmelman, have asked Obama to intervene and allow Pollard to leave the country and relocate to Israel, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“We respectfully urge the president to exercise his clemency power in this manner,’’ the lawyers said.

Through his lawyers, Pollard also thanked supporters who had long fought for his release, the Journal said.

“Mr. Pollard would like to thank the many thousands of well-wishers in the US, in Israel and throughout the world, who provided grass-roots support by attending rallies, sending letters, making phone calls to elected officials and saying prayers for his welfare. He is deeply appreciative of every gesture, large or small,’’ the lawyers said.

“It’s a miracle,” Pollard’s former wife Anne told Channel 2 on Tuesday evening, shortly after news broke of his parole. “I just heard officially that this was true.” She said she knew nothing about the terms of his release.

She said that the Israeli government should fund a budget “so that Jonathan can hire a top, top-notch attorney” for his upcoming parole hearing.

Once he is released he will want to move to Israel “100 percent,” she said, “otherwise nothing would make sense to him.”

“I just want to see him out, I can’t bear it anymore, that he sat and lost all of his life in jail, it’s a crime, it’s such a crime,” she said.

The Wall Street Journal had reported Friday that the Obama administration was preparing to release Pollard in hopes of alleviating tensions with Israel over the Iranian nuclear deal.

Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters Tuesday that Pollard’s parole was “not at all” related to the nuclear deal.

Administration officials also insisted that there was “zero linkage” between Pollard’s status and any foreign policy considerations. But the US Justice Department appeared to affirm talk of a November release when it said Friday that Pollard should serve “his full sentence for the serious crimes he committed, which in this case is a 30-year sentence as mandated by statute.”

In a Channel 2 interview Saturday, his former wife Anne stressed, “There is no official word that Jonathan is being released on any date… There is no news, no official response on that whatsoever.”

His eligibility for parole on November 21, 2015 has been public knowledge for years, she noted.

Pleading for his release, Anne Pollard said her former husband had done everything the prison authorities asked of him, had a history of “good behavior,” and is “very, very ill.”

She was “100 percent” certain he would want to be on a plane to Israel “within hours” if released, she said. Asked if the US government would want to prevent this, and to forbid him from leaving the country if he were paroled, she said she would have thought they would want to put him on the first plane out.

It was heartbreaking, she said, that he had spent his whole life sitting in jail. “I can’t bear it any more,” she said.

Israeli political analysts on both Channel 10 and Channel 2 assessed Saturday night that Pollard would indeed be allowed to go free in November. The goal would be to demonstrate that the Obama administration is “not hostile” to Israel amid the tensions over the nuclear deal with Iran, according to Channel 10.

Shaked said Saturday that Pollard should be freed as soon as he is eligible. Other Israeli officials were keeping mum, for fear of saying anything that might complicate a possible release, Channel 2 said Saturday night.

ABC News’ managing editor tweeted Friday night that US officials had confirmed to ABC that the former Navy analyst was set to be released in November.

The Justice Department said it expected Pollard to serve out his entire sentence.

“The Department of Justice has always and continues to maintain that Jonathan Pollard should serve his full sentence for the serious crimes he committed, which in this case is a 30-year sentence as mandated by statute,” said spokesman Marc Raimondi.

“Mr. Pollard’s status will be determined by the United States Parole Commission according to standard procedures,” added National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey. “There is absolutely zero linkage between Mr. Pollard’s status and foreign policy considerations.”

Israeli government officials — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself — activists, and even members of Congress have for decades lobbied successive US administrations for Pollard’s release.

There have been several reports in US media in recent months alleging that Pollard may be released later this year.

Last week, one of Pollard’s attorneys, Eliot Lauer, had told the Times of Israel that he has received no indication of this.

“We have not received any word, and I would expect that either I or my client would be the ones who would be notified,” he said. Lauer is a member of Pollard’s pro bono legal team, and has represented him for over two decades.

The 61-year-old Pollard is serving a life sentence in a US federal prison for passing classified information to Israel; he was granted citizenship by Israel 20 years ago. The flurry of recent reports reflect a US government website that lists Pollard’s release date (under ID number 09185-016) as November 21, 2015 – a date that would coincide with the 30th anniversary of his arrest.

US government site showing Jonathan Pollard's scheduled release date
US government site showing Jonathan Pollard’s scheduled release date

Although Pollard is serving a life sentence under a Federal law that allows the possibility of parole, he is the only American citizen who has been sentenced to life in prison for passing classified information to a US ally.

The US has at times considered releasing Pollard, but has been met with fierce opposition by some in the CIA, the FBI and the Justice Department. This could again be the case if indeed the Obama administration is considering it, but “[Pollard’s] chances at winning freedom are better now than they have ever been,” according to the WSJ report that attributes the belief to unnamed US officials.

There have been multiple false starts and reports over the years indicating that Pollard’s release was imminent. During his farewell visit as president of Israel to Washington DC last year, Shimon Peres pressed President Barack Obama for Pollard’s release.

In August 2014, a request by Pollard for parole was denied, with the officials arguing that releasing Pollard would “constitute contempt for the severity of the offense and promote a lack of respect for the law.”