Pleading for his release, Pollard’s ex-wife says no official word yet

The former wife of spy-for-Israel Jonathan Pollard said Saturday there was “no official word” that Pollard will soon go free, even as a flurry of reports indicated that the US government may not intervene to prevent his release when he becomes eligible for parole on November 21.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the Obama administration is preparing to release Pollard, who was convicted in 1987 of spying for Israel, in hopes of alleviating tensions over the Iranian nuclear deal.

Administration officials responded 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, his former wife Anne Pollard 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, and the question was, and remains, whether there would be intervention to prevent him going free on or around that date.

Pleading for his release, and for the Israeli government to allocate “a large budget” to help him hire top legal representation for his parole hearing, 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 Saturday night assessed 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.

Israel’s Justice Minister Ayelet 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.

According to US officials cited in Friday’s Wall Street Journal report, some are pushing for Pollard’s release in a matter of weeks, while others say it could take months.

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, 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 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.

Lauer noted that November 21, 2015, has been listed as a release date for Pollard for decades.

In order for Pollard to be released, a Notice of Action must first be issued – and presumably, it is Pollard’s legal team which would receive it first. According to Lauer, no such Notice of Action has been received.

Lauer said the authorities could issue such a notice shortly before Pollard’s 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.”

AP contributed to this report.