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Convicted Israeli spy Pollard to be paroled in November

Xinhua, July 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

A federal parole board has ruled that Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. Navy intelligence officer convicted of spying for Israel, has been granted parole after spending 30 years in U.S. prison and will be released on Nov. 21, his attorneys confirmed Tuesday.

The decision was made following a hearing on Pollard's case by the U.S. Parole Commission earlier this month. Pollard, a U.S. citizen, will be barred from leaving the U.S. for five years under the terms of his parole, but U.S. President Barack Obama could waive the requirement to allow him to travel to Israel, his attorneys said in a statement.

"We look forward to seeing our client on the outside in less than four months," Pollard's attorneys Eliot Lauer and Jacques Semmelman said in the statement.

Pollard, 60, has been imprisoned since Nov. 21, 1985 when he was arrested on charges of spying for Israel as a civilian intelligence analyst in the U.S. Navy. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1987 by a U.S. court. Israel granted him citizenship in 1995. His case has been a source of friction between the U.S. and Israel for decades, with numerous administrations considering but ultimately rejecting Israeli pleas to free him.

The decision to grant Pollard parole was regarded by some as an attempt by the U.S. government to ease the rising tension in its ties with Israel, which has strongly criticized Washington for reaching a nuclear deal with Iran after two years of intense negotiations.

Israel, Iran's sworn enemy, fears the easing of economic sanctions on Iran following the nuclear deal could allow the Islamic state to provide funding to anti-Israel groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Some U.S. officials have been pushing for Pollard's release within weeks or months, considering his date of parole in November as a possible date for release, the Wall Street Journal first reported last week.

But the White House has denied the linkage between the Pollard case and the Iran nuclear deal. "Mr. Pollard's status will be determined by the U.S. Parole Commission according to standard procedures," said National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey in a statement issued last Friday. "There is absolutely zero linkage between Mr. Pollard's status and foreign policy considerations." Endite