Obama won’t intervene to let Pollard move to Israel — report

US President Barack Obama won’t intercede on behalf of American-Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard to allow him to relocate to Israel, administration officials told The Washington Post Monday.

Pollard, who is set to be released next Friday after 30 years in prison, must remain in the US for five years, according to the terms of his parole.

While Pollard’s attorney had expressed hope that the president would use his executive powers to let his client leave the US, administration officials said Monday that Obama would not intervene.

The report came hours after Obama met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House. The prime minister would not say whether he had raised the issue with Obama.

In July, Pollard’s attorneys issued a written statement saying “President Obama… has the authority… to allow Mr. Pollard to leave the United States and move to Israel immediately. We respectfully urge the president to exercise his clemency power in this manner.”

The White House promptly responded that Obama had no intention of altering Pollard’s terms of parole. Pollard had committed “very serious crimes” and would serve his sentence under the law, the White House said.

Meanwhile, an Israeli parliamentarian said Tuesday he would advance a Knesset bill that would require Israel to support Pollard financially and cover his medical expenses for the rest of his life.

“After everything Pollard went through, and in light of his contributions to Israel, the state must see to it that he lives with dignity,” said Likud MK David Bitan, who is spearheading the bill, according to Haaretz.

Bitan said he sought to anchor the monthly stipends in law since “it is entirely possible that American pressure will be exerted on Israel to freeze a stipend like this” for Pollard.

Pollard will not be permitted to give interviews or use the internet as part of his parole conditions, the report said.

In a recent interview with The Times of Israel, Pollard’s pro bono attorney said his client was still pleading to join his wife Esther in Israel upon his release.

“He wants to make a contribution,” Eliot Lauer said. “He has lots of significant ideas.”

Pollard, a former civilian Navy analyst, was given a life sentence in 1987 for espionage for Israel. He was granted citizenship by the Jewish state 20 years ago.

In July, the US Parole Commission announced Pollard’s release on parole on November 20, after serving 30 years of his 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.”