Obama will not let Jonathan Pollard leave U.S. for Israel

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) President Barack Obama will not intervene to allow Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard to travel to Israel after his scheduled parole from federal prison next week, The Washington Post reported Monday, citing Obama administration officials.

The terms of Pollard’s release stipulate that he remain in the United States, under supervision, for five years. Obama has the ability to use his executive power to waive that condition and allow Pollard to leave the U.S., but he will not do so, the report said.

Last week, top Obama adviser Ben Rhodes said, “President Obama has not intervened in the judicial process here in the United States, and that’s been his consistent approach. With respect to the case of Jonathan Pollard, he’s made clear that he wants there to be fair treatment under the law, as there should be with any individual.”

Pollard, 61, has spent nearly three decades in prison for spying for Israel. He was arrested in Washington in 1985 and sentenced to a life term in 1987. An American Jew, Pollard was granted Israeli citizenship in 1995. His upcoming parole, scheduled for Nov. 21, was announced in July.