ANT KATZ

Pollard’s imprisonment has long been a sore point in relations between the United States and Israel, and looks like it may remain so if he is refused the right to make aliyah.

“The people of Israel welcome the release of Jonathan Pollard,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. He is tracked by a GPS bracelet, his computers will be monitored 24/7, and his outings are subject to a curfew. He also has to report to his parole officer regularly.

RIGHT: Jonathan Pollard after being released from prison on Friday  – PIC: World Jewish Congress

“As someone who raised Jonathan’s case for years with successive American presidents,

“I had long hoped this day would come,” he said. “After three long and difficult decades, Jonathan has been reunited with his family.

“May this Sabbath bring him much joy and peace that will continue in the years and decades ahead,” said Netanyahu.

Strict probationary restrictions

 Pollard will not be permitted to leave the United States for as long as five years under federal parole rules, although he has asked to emigrate to Israel, saying he would relinquish his US citizenship and agree never to return to the United States as a condition.

LEFT: Pollard before he
was imprisoned in 1987

Pollard needs the prior agreement of his probation office to leave the “district of release”, the Justice Department has said.

This, it seems, will be confirmed as being in New York.

His lawyers, Eliot Lauer and Jacques Semmelman, have said they have arranged a residence and employment for him in the New York City area.

In addition to his probation officer’s say-so, he needs the US Parole Commission’s permission to travel overseas.