The US ambassador to Israel on Monday said it is unlikely that convicted Pentagon spy Jonathan Pollard willever be released, saying the fact that he has not been executed should be seen as an act of clemency by Washington.
Responding to audience questions during an academic conference, Ambassador Richard Jones said Pollard's crimes appear especially heinous to many Americans because he was caught spying for a friendly power.
"It came out in the trial very clearly, Jonathan Pollard took money for what he did, he sold out his country," Jones said in comments at Bar Ilan University, near Tel Aviv. "The fact that he wasn't executed is the mercy that Jonathan Pollard will receive."
Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst for the US Navy, sold military secrets to Israel while working at the Pentagon. He was arrested in 1985 and pleaded guilty at his trial. He is serving a life sentence in a US federal prison.
"This is a very emotional issue in the United States," Jones said. "I know he was helping a friend but that's what makes it even more emotional for Americans, if a friend would cooperate in aiding and abetting someone who is committing treason against his own country."