Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard will not be able to travel to Israel after his release from jail next week, despite calls for President Obama to intervene on his behalf.
Mr Pollard, who is set to be released next Friday after 30 years in prison, must remain in the US for five years, according to the terms of his parole.
In July, Mr Pollard’s attorneys issued a statement “urging” President Obama to “allow Mr Pollard to leave the United States and move to Israel immediately. We respectfully urge the president to exercise his clemency power in this manner.” However the White House responded by saying that they had no intention of altering the terms of his parole.
However, Mr Pollard’s lawyer has said that his client was still pleading to join his wife Esther in Israel upon his release.
Reports of his potential release surfaced earlier in the year, amid speculation that the American jailed for spying for Israel would be released in a bid to save the Middle East peace process.
Mr Pollard – a former US Navy intelligence analyst - was jailed for life in 1987 for passing documents to Israel. He was granted Israeli citizenship in 1995.
