U.S. Release Jonathon Pollard, a Convicted Spy, after 30 Years

Jonathon Pollard, who was convicted for spying on the U.S. for Israel, has been released after serving 30 years of a life sentence. Pollard, 61, was released in North Carolina on Friday, CNN confirmed.

The former spy and his lawyers are now challenging his parole conditions and seeking to get them changed at a federal court in New York. Pollard's lawyers stated that the Parole Commission has "imposed onerous and oppressive conditions of parole" and "unfettered monitoring and inspection of Mr. Pollard's computers as well as those of any employer who chooses to hire him."

The conditions of the parole state that Pollard must wear an ankle monitor and will not be allowed to move to Israel for at least five years, a condition that his wife has heavily criticized. Pollard is seen as a hero in his native country.

New York Democratic representatives, Jerrold Nadler and Eliot L. Engel, have written a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch asking her to grant Pollard's request to be sent back to Israel after he denounces his U.S. citizenship.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has welcomed his release, tweeting, "The people of Israel welcome the release of Jonathan Pollard. May this Sabbath bring Jonathan Pollard much joy and peace that will continue in the years and decades ahead."

Pollard came to America during the 1960s when his father, Morris Pollard, accepted a position at the University of Notre Dame. Despite growing up in America, Pollard's loyalty to Israel never faded, especially after experiencing cultural divides within his predominately Christian community and throughout his adult life.

Pollard had said during the CIA investigation, "I suddenly found myself confronting a community in which racism and bigotry were acceptable social practices. I was never able to establish friendships in my neighborhoods and was compelled to spend most of my time around the city's Hebrew Day School, where I felt at least physically safe and emotionally protected."

Pollard was arrested in 1985. At the time, he was working at the Naval Ocean Surveillance Information Center as an intelligence specialist. He had access to top-secret data and was able to analyze information on terrorist activities.

The unit that Pollard worked for became suspicious when he started to handle data on regions that he was not assigned to. He was later confronted after he was seen taking classified information out of the building.

Pollard and his former wife, Anne Henderson Pollard, were arrested three days after the confrontation outside of the Israeli Embassy, where they went to seek out asylum but were turned down. The arrest had created a divide between the U.S. and Israel, who initially denied having any connections with Pollard. Intelligence quickly discovered that Pollard was working for an advisor to Shimon Peres, who was the Israeli Prime Minister at the time.

Israel officially acknowledged Pollard in 1998. The country was criticized for not fighting for their spy.