It is a disgrace that the United States government has agreed to the release of Jonathan Pollard, an imprisoned American citizen who had spied for Israel in the 1970s and 1980s. He sold a vast trove of information, much of which has never been revealed, to various countries including South Africa, Pakistan and China, as well as the Soviet Union. The American intelligence community has maintained that the damage to American national security as a result of Pollard’s activities was far more severe and enduring than publicly acknowledged.
Pollard’s main customer was Israel, which granted him citizenship in 1995, but this piece of political opportunism did him no good and he has continued to serve his life sentence. Therefore, it was a shock when the US Department of Justice announced it would not oppose Pollard’s release. The reason most likely has nothing to do with justice and more with Washington seeking to mend fences with the Netanyahu government over its anger at the Iranian nuclear deal. Pollard’s release has been a long-standing Israeli demand and it is a great regret that Washington has capitulated.
