Rep. Darrell Issa told Newsmax Tuesday that "of course" the paroling Jonathan Pollard was related to the Obama administration's efforts to win congressional approval of the Iran nuclear agreement.
"I don't think that the timing is an accident," the California Republican said in an interview. "It was an eventuality that two close allies eventually were going to come to a solution on closing this chapter."
Pollard, now 60, a former U.S. Navy intelligence officer convicted of spying for Israel, will be released in November. He had served 30 years in prison and would be required to remain in the U.S. for
five years under the terms granted Tuesday by a federal parole board.
He had been jailed for decades despite efforts by successive Israeli governments to secure his early release.
Pollard's attorneys said that the decision by the U.S. Parole Commission was unanimous and was "not connected to recent developments in the Middle East," including the nuclear deal with Iran.
"He's served a very long time," Issa told Newsmax. "He deserved to serve a very long time."
"He is a villain in America. He is a spy. I hope Israel understands that it's not appropriate to make him a hero in Israel for having spied on the most important, closest and most consistent ally."
"That's a little bit of what has to be understood is that he was spying for one of our allies — and I would hope that the best way for Israel to apologize for having engaged a spy is not to treat him as a villain, of course, but not to treat him as some sort of special hero," Issa said.
"The reality is it's a sad chapter in American-Israeli relations when we uncovered him delivering to Israel things which we were very generous with, classified information with Israel, but we do have to draw the line — and he broke that."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.