Israeli Government Upset Over Comptroller Investigation on Efforts to Release Pollard

At the direction of the parliament and in the face of opposition from the prime minister, Israel’s comptroller has begun to investigate official efforts to secure the freedom of Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. Naval intelligence analyst who was sent to jail for life in 1987 for spying on the U.S. for Israel. Those supporting the prime minister’s position argue that a full-blown investigation will harm attempts to secure Pollard’s release. But Pollard’s wife responded by expressing her belief and that of her husband that no efforts are underway. Jonathan Pollard took it further in a letter he sent to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, attacking him for his suggestions that the Pollards have been receiving government support during his years in prison. Pollard denied he had received any funds at all and raised the possibility that if there were such funds, someone in the administration was misdirecting them. Pollard entered a plea bargain with Federal prosecutors admitting to the charge of passing classified information to a friendly nation, but contends the government breached the agreement by sentencing him to life with no parole. He has been unsuccessful in his attempts to bring the case to trial.