Editing Jonathan Pollard (section)

{{Short description|US intelligence analyst and convicted spy (born 1954)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name              = Jonathan Pollard
| image_name        = Jonathan Pollard.png
| image_size        = 200px
| image_caption     = 
| alias             = <!--Thomas Richered Pollard Jr-->
| birth_name        = Jonathan Jay Pollard
| birth_date        = {{Birth date and age|1954|8|7}}
| birth_place       = [[Galveston, Texas]], U.S.
| alma_mater        = [[Stanford University]]
| citizenship       = [[United States]] (1954–present)<br/>[[Israel]] (1995–present)
| conviction_penalty = [[Life imprisonment in the United States|Life imprisonment]]
| conviction_status = Released
| occupation        = Former [[Intelligence (information gathering)|intelligence]] analyst and spy for [[Israel]]
| spouse            = Anne Henderson Pollard (divorced) <br /> Elaine Zeitz (aka Esther Pollard) (deceased)<br />{{marriage|Rivka Abrahams-Donin|2022}}
| parents           = Morris Pollard (father)<br />Molly Pollard (mother)
| conviction        = [[Espionage Act of 1917|Conspiracy to deliver national defense information to a foreign government (18 U.S.C. § 794)]]
}}

'''Jonathan Jay Pollard''' (born August 7, 1954) is an American former [[intelligence analyst]] who was jailed for spying for Israel.

In 1984, Pollard sold numerous state secrets, including the [[National Security Agency]]'s ten-volume manual on how the U.S. gathers its signal intelligence, and disclosed the names of thousands of people who had cooperated with U.S. intelligence agencies.<ref name="hersh" /> He was apprehended in 1985, and in subsequent proceedings agreed to a [[plea agreement|plea deal]], pleaded guilty to spying for and providing top-secret [[classified information]] to [[Israel]]. Pollard admitted shopping his services—successfully, in some cases—to other countries.<ref name="Oliver 77-78">[[#refOlive2006|Olive 2006]], pp. 77–78.</ref> In 1987, he was sentenced to life in prison for violations of the [[Espionage Act of 1917|Espionage Act]].

The Israeli government acknowledged a portion of its role in Pollard's espionage in 1987, and issued a formal apology to the U.S.,<ref>{{cite news |title=Israel apologizes for Pollard spy plot |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19870306&id=aIMcAAAAIBAJ&pg=6965,3902705 |newspaper=[[The Pittsburgh Press]] |agency=[[United Press International]] |access-date=April 22, 2014 |date=March 6, 1987 |via=[[Google News Archive]]}}</ref> but did not admit to paying him until 1998.<ref name="why">{{cite news |first=Edwin |last=Black |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/why-jonathan-pollard-spent-30-years-in-prison/ |title=Why Jonathan Pollard spent 30 years in prison |date=August 2, 2015 |work=[[The Times of Israel]] |access-date=August 8, 2015}}</ref> Over the course of his imprisonment, Israeli officials, US-Israeli activist groups and some US politicians continually lobbied for a reduction or commutation of his sentence.<ref>{{cite news |first=Yitzhak |last=Benhorin |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3394552,00.html |work=[[Ynet News]] |title=How former CIA chief foiled Pollard's release |date=February 5, 2007 |access-date=June 20, 2011}}</ref> In defense of his actions, Pollard said the American intelligence establishment collectively endangered Israel's security by withholding crucial information. 

Opposing any form of [[Pardon#United States|clemency]] for Pollard were many active and retired U.S. officials, including [[Donald Rumsfeld]], [[Dick Cheney]], former CIA director [[George Tenet]]; several former U.S. Secretaries of Defense; a bi-partisan group of U.S. congressional leaders; and members of the U.S. intelligence community.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gass |first1=Nick |title=Donald Rumsfeld: U.S. shouldn't release spy Jonathan Pollard |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/donald-rumsfeld-against-releasing-israel-spy-jonathan-pollard-120661 |access-date=November 26, 2023 |work=[[Politico]] |date=July 27, 2015 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="why" /><ref name="hersh">{{cite magazine|last=Hersh|first=Seymour|title=The Traitor|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=January 18, 1999|pages=26–33|url=https://www.newyorker.com/archive/1999/01/18/1999_01_18_026_TNY_LIBRY_000017310 |access-date=December 26, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Best">{{cite web|last1=Best, Jr.|first1=Richard A.|author2=Clyde Mark|title=Jonathan Pollard: Background and Considerations for Presidential Clemency|work=Congressional Research Service Report for Congress|publisher=The Library of Congress|date=January 31, 2001 |url=https://fas.org/irp/crs/RS20001.pdf|access-date=March 7, 2007}}</ref> They maintained that the damage to U.S. national security due to Pollard's espionage was much more severe, wide-ranging, and enduring than acknowledged publicly. 

Though Pollard argued that he only supplied Israel with information critical to its security, opponents stated that he had no way of knowing what the Israelis had received through legitimate exchanges, and that much of the data he compromised had nothing to do with Israeli security. Pollard revealed aspects of the U.S. intelligence gathering process, its "sources and methods".<ref name="why" /> In 1995, while imprisoned, he was granted Israeli citizenship.<ref name="Israel admits it spied on US">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/91260.stm|title=Israel admits it spied on US|date=May 12, 1998|publisher=[[news.bbc.co.uk]]|access-date=September 6, 2008}}</ref>

Pollard was released from prison on November 20, 2015, in accordance with federal guidelines at the time of his sentencing.<ref name="parole">{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.687303|title=After 30 Years, Jonathan Pollard Released From American Prison|last=Ris|first=Jonathan|date=November 20, 2015|work=[[Haaretz]]|access-date=April 16, 2016}}</ref> On November 20, 2020, his parole expired and all restrictions were eliminated.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jonathan Pollard, Convicted Spy, Completes Parole and May Move to Israel |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/us/politics/jonathan-pollard-parole-ends.html |access-date=November 20, 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]]|first=Julian E.|last=Barnes |date=November 20, 2020}}</ref> On December 30, 2020, Pollard and his second wife relocated to Israel and settled in [[Jerusalem]].<ref name="toi">{{Cite news |title=Jonathan Pollard arrives in Israel, 35 years after his arrest for spying |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/jonathan-pollard-arrives-in-israel-35-years-after-his-imprisonment-for-spying/ |access-date=December 30, 2020 |work=The Times of Israel |date=December 30, 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="bbc">{{Cite news |date=December 30, 2020 |title=Jonathan Pollard: Israel spy greeted by Netanyahu after flying to Tel Aviv |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-55484433 |access-date=January 9, 2021}}</ref>

Since relocating to Israel, Pollard has endorsed [[Itamar Ben-Gvir]] and advocated a [[population transfer]] to [[Proposed Israeli resettlement of the Gaza Strip|relocate Gaza's Palestinians]] to Ireland.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fink |first=Rachel |date=2024-02-25 |title='Move Gaza's Arabs to Ireland': Former U.S. Jewish spy Pollard endorses Israel's far-right Ben-Gvir |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-02-25/ty-article/send-gazans-to-ireland-ex-spy-pollard-looks-to-ben-gvir-to-find-his-political-future/0000018d-dfe1-df79-a5cd-ffffa32f0000 |access-date=2024-03-18 |work=Haaretz |language=en}}</ref>