USA-ISRAEL/POLLARD WIFE Wife of imprisoned Israeli spy 'relieved' U.S. due to release him

Record ID: 145880

  • Title: USA-ISRAEL/POLLARD WIFE Wife of imprisoned Israeli spy 'relieved' U.S. due to release him
  • Date: 29th July 2015
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (JULY 29, 2015) (REUTERS) ESTHER POLLARD, WIFE OF FORMER SPY JONATHAN POLLARD ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERAMEN DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ESTHER POLLARD, WIFE OF FORMER SPY JONATHAN POLLARD, SAYING: "With the help of God, with thanks to God almighty, my beloved husband Jonathan Pollard is completing this November, 30 long years of incarcera
  • Embargoed: 13th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jerusalem
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAB101G26WDWN869X7QINFVOEED
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Israel offered a cautious welcome on Wednesday (July 29) to the planned U.S. release of former spy Jonathan Pollard, wary that too warm a celebration might hurt efforts to persuade the Obama administration to let him leave for Israel immediately.
    Esther Pollard held a news conference in Jerusalem and greeted the release of her husband from prison, after 30 years.
    "With the help of God, with thanks to God almighty, my beloved husband Jonathan Pollard is completing this November, 30 long years of incarceration in United States. Jonathan has served his time right down to the very last day to the very last minute. I'm relieved and I'm happy, that our deal is finally coming to an end. I can hardly wait, I'm counting the days, the hours, the minutes, the seconds - until I can take him into my arms, and we can close the door on the past behind us and begin to heal and to rebuild our life."
    Under parole terms announced on Tuesday, Pollard, a former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst who was convicted in 1987 of passing reams of classified information to Israel, will be freed on Nov. 21 but confined to the United States for five years.
    Having been granted Israeli citizenship while in prison, Pollard, 60, has said he wants to emigrate to Israel, where his second wife lives, and where he can expect to receive substantial government back-pay for his 30 years behind bars.
    His crime and lack of contrition have, however, been an irritant in a U.S.-Israeli alliance now strained by feuds over the Iranian nuclear deal and stalled Palestinian peace talks.
    Some of Pollard's fellow American Jews have also voiced discomfort with his status as a cause celebre in certain circles in Israel, even if broader society is more lukewarm towards him.
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greeted the news of Pollard's parole order with a three-sentence written statement. On Wednesday, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked sounded circumspect about the chances of Pollard coming to Israel.
    "If one wants to change the (parole) terms, then that is not a legal matter. It will apparently require the intercession of the (U.S.) president, and that is a more complex process. It would be political," Shaked told Israel's Army Radio.
    Pollard's legal team has called on President Barack Obama to allow him to go to Israel immediately after release. That appears unlikely and his lawyers have said that he has a job and a place to live set up in the United States.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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