Jonathan Pollard to be released in November, 2015. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/pollard-u-s-analyst-convicted-spying-israel-freed/ Jonathan Pollard, the former Navy intelligence analyst whose conviction of spying and which stoked fierce international passions, has been granted parole and will be released from prison in November after nearly 30 years. The decision to free Pollard from his life sentence, announced Tuesday by his lawyers and then confirmed by the Justice Department, caps an extraordinary espionage case that spurred decades of legal and diplomatic wrangling. Critics have condemned the American as a traitor who betrayed his country for money and disclosed damaging secrets, while supporters have argued that he was punished excessively given that he spied for a U.S. ally. Pollard is due to be released on Nov. 21, three decades after he was arrested while trying to gain asylum at the Israeli Embassy in Washington. Though American Jews have wrestled with how much leniency he should get, Israelis have long campaigned for his freedom. The government there has recognized him as an Israeli agent and granted him citizenship, even as recent American presidents have resisted efforts to free him early. "We are looking forward to his release," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Tuesday. "Immense joy," Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked wrote on her Facebook page in Hebrew, adding that "thirty years of suffering will come to an end this November." Jerusalem Square to be Renamed For Pollard Before Bush Visit A key public square in Jerusalem will be renamed for imprisoned American Jew Jonathan Pollard – just in time for the arrival of US President Bush. Meanwhile, back in 1987: Judge Aubrey Robinson Jr. called Pollard to the bench, showed him a classified affidavit that the Department of Defense had submitted, listing the range of sensitive secrets that he’d stolen, pointed to one of the items, and said, “What about this?” Pollard was silenced. Robinson sentenced him to life.
Seems like the only way they could have kept him behind bars was to prove that he was still a national security threat. Spying for an ally isn't an excuse for espionage. The Five Eyes(USA,Canada,UK,Australia,New Zealand) are alot closer in relationship to each other than USA and Israel, but if you pass sensitive information outside of the agreement, it is still espionage. So the argument that he spied for Israel and not Russia for instance is not a good excuse. But he served his time and will likely be held in the US for some time, maybe 5 years or so before he is allowed to move to Israel.
