- In full:
- Jonathan Jay Pollard
- Born:
- August 7, 1954, Galveston, Texas, U.S. (age 72)
Jonathan Pollard
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Who is Jonathan Pollard?
Jonathan Pollard (born August 7, 1954) is an American civilian defense analyst who sold classified information to Israel. In 1987, he received a life sentence but was paroled in 2015.
Pollard's spying caused considerable embarrassment to Israel, who had officials caught spying on a key ally. Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres apologized for Pollard’s actions and shut down the scientific intelligence agency that collaborated with him.
He supplied officials at the Israeli embassy with boxes and suitcases full of information from the Departments of State, Defense, and Justice, the CIA, and the National Security Agency. Pollard said he was motivated by sectarianism, though Israeli agents had agreed to pay him for the information.
In 2020, after completing his parole, Pollard moved to Israel.
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What job did Jonathan Pollard have with the U.S. government?
Jonathan Pollard worked as a civilian defense analyst for the U.S. government. In 1984, he was assigned to the U.S. Navy’s Anti-Terrorist Alert Center, where he had access to a wide range of government documents.
He began providing classified information to Israeli officials connected to Israel’s Bureau of Scientific Relations, including documents from the Departments of State, Defense, and Justice, the CIA, and the National Security Agency. Pollard was arrested in 1985 and, in 1987, was sentenced to life imprisonment for spying for Israel.
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What did Jonathan Pollard do that made him famous?
Jonathan Pollard is an American civilian defense analyst famous for selling classified information to Israel. In 1984, he was assigned to the U.S. Navy’s Anti-Terrorist Alert Center and had access to all government documents. He contacted officials at the Israeli embassy and began supplying them with boxes and suitcases full of information from the Departments of State, Defense, and Justice, the CIA, and the National Security Agency.
Pollard was arrested in 1985 and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1987 for conveying classified information to a foreign state. He was paroled in 2015 but barred from leaving the United States for five years. After completing his parole, he moved to Israel in December 2020.
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Which country did Jonathan Pollard give secret information to?
Jonathan Pollard, an American civilian defense analyst, provided classified information to Israel. In 1987, he received a life sentence for selling classified data to Israel and was paroled in 2015. His actions caused considerable embarrassment to Israel, as it exposed Israeli officials spying on a key ally. Following Pollard’s arrest, Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres apologized and disbanded the scientific intelligence agency involved with Pollard.
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What happened to Jonathan Pollard after he was caught spying?
After being caught spying, Jonathan Pollard pleaded guilty to conveying classified information to a foreign state and cooperated with investigators. In March 1987, he received a life sentence in prison, while his wife was sentenced to five years. Pollard served his time in federal prisons in Illinois and North Carolina. His wife was released in 1989, and they divorced in 1990, after which she moved to Israel.
While in prison, Pollard remarried, and Israel granted him citizenship in 1996. Numerous pro-Israel groups and Israeli officials called for his release. In 2015, he was granted parole but was barred from leaving the United States for five years. After completing his parole, Pollard moved to Israel in December 2020.
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How has the Jonathan Pollard case affected U.S.-Israel relations?
The Jonathan Pollard affair, involving an American defense analyst who spied for Israel, significantly strained U.S.-Israel relations in the 1980s. Pollard's arrest in 1985 and subsequent life sentence in 1987 caused acute embarrassment to Israel, as it exposed Israeli espionage activities against a key ally.
Prime Minister Shimon Peres apologized and disbanded the Bureau of Scientific Relations (Lekem), the agency involved. Despite the apology, the incident sparked outrage in the U.S. and led to increased scrutiny of the U.S.-Israeli intelligence relationship. The case became a point of contention, with many Israelis viewing Pollard's imprisonment as unjust, while many Americans saw it as a serious breach of trust. The controversy lingered for years, impacting diplomatic discussions and public perceptions.
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Jonathan Pollard (born August 7, 1954, Galveston, Texas, U.S.) is an American civilian defense analyst who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1987 for having sold classified information to Israel; he was paroled in 2015. His arrest caused acute embarrassment to Israel, whose officials were caught spying on a key ally. Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres apologized for Pollard’s activities and dissolved the scientific intelligence agency that had worked with him.
While Pollard was young, his family moved to South Bend, Indiana, where his father was a professor of microbiology at the University of Notre Dame. He graduated from Stanford University in 1976 with a degree in international relations. In 1977 he was rejected for a job with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) after an investigation uncovered his use of drugs and his penchant for telling stories (some of which gave the impression that he was an agent of Israeli intelligence), and he began graduate studies in law and diplomacy at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. In 1979, when he got a job at the Navy Field Operational Intelligence Office in Maryland, the CIA did not make its damaging report available to those investigating his fitness. After he was caught lying on the job in 1981, his security clearance was reduced, and he was told to seek psychiatric help, but his clearance was restored after he filed a grievance.
In 1984 he was assigned to the U.S. Navy’s Anti-Terrorist Alert Center. With access to all government documents that could help with his job, he contacted officials at the Israeli embassy who were connected to that country’s Bureau of Scientific Relations and began to supply them with boxes and suitcases full of information from the Departments of State, Defense, and Justice, the CIA, and the National Security Agency. On October 25, 1985, he was seen carrying a large bundle from his office to his wife’s car and was placed under surveillance. On November 21 he was arrested outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, where he and his wife had gone in hope of asylum; his wife was arrested the next day.
Pollard pleaded guilty to having conveyed classified information to a foreign state and cooperated with investigators. Nevertheless, in March 1987 he was given the maximum sentence of life in prison. His wife was sentenced to five years. At sentencing, Pollard claimed to have been motivated by “sectarianism,” though Israeli agents had agreed to pay him $30,000 each year for a period of 10 years and had already paid him more than $45,000. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger wrote to the judge that Pollard had seriously compromised national security.
Pollard entered the federal prison system in Marion, Illinois, and then was transferred to Butler, North Carolina. His wife was released from a federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, in 1989. In 1990 the couple divorced; Pollard remarried while in prison, and his first wife eventually moved to Israel. In 1996 the State of Israel granted Pollard citizenship. Numerous pro-Israel groups continued to call for Pollard’s release from prison, as did Israeli officials and government leaders. In 2015 he was granted parole, and on November 20 he was let out of prison. As part of the conditions for his release, Pollard was barred from leaving the United States for five years. After completing his parole, he moved to Israel in December 2020.