Jonathan Pollard: Background and Considerations for Presidential Clemency

Publication Date: January 2001

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Justice

Type:

Coverage: Israel

Abstract:

Jonathan Jay Pollard and his wife, Anne Henderson Pollard, were arrested in 1985 on charges of spying for Israel. Pollard pleaded guilty and received a life sentence, and remains in prison. Anne Henderson Pollard received a five-year sentence, and was released early in 1989. At first, the Israeli government claimed Pollard's activities were not sanctioned by the Israeli government and were part of a rogue operation, but the Israeli government granted citizenship to Pollard in 1996, and admitted that Pollard was spying for the government of Israel in 1998. Israeli Prime Ministers on several occasions requested that President Clinton grant clemency to Pollard, but the Clinton Administration ended without a reprieve. It is likely that the Israeli government will raise the issue again and some U.S. groups continue to advocate Pollard's release. At issue is the question: should the President grant clemency to Jonathan Pollard? Those supporting clemency argue that Pollard has served long enough, that he spied for a friendly nation, not an enemy, that his release will help the peace process, and that the United States reneged on the plea agreement. Those who oppose clemency argue that Pollard's spying exposed U.S. intelligence methods and personnel, that the Pollard case is not related to the peace process, that who he spied for is irrelevant, and that the judges' sentence was justified by the magnitude of the crime. The report will not be updated.