Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard is set to be released from a U.S. prison Friday, but his desired move to Israel will have to wait.
Pollard, 61, a former U.S. Navy Investigative Service civilian analyst, was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 after pleading guilty to selling classified information to Israel.
He is expected to settle in the New York area while he spends at least the next five years on parole. He will be barred him from traveling outside the country, including to Israel, without permission.
Both the Justice Department and Pollard's lawyers have so far declined to discuss the details of his parole.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the U.S. to allow Pollard to move immediately to Israel, the pro-government Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported Thursday. Pollard was granted an Israeli citizenship while he was in prison.
Two New York congressmen, Eliot Engel and Jerrold Nadler, have also written U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, saying that Pollard should be allowed to renounce his American citizenship and emigrate to Israel.
