Jonathan Pollard Hospitalized Outside Prison
Jonathan Pollard reportedly was hospitalized at a facility off his prison campus.
Israel radio and representatives of Pollard’s wife reported Friday that Pollard was taken to a facility outside the Butner Federal Correctional Complex, the prison complex in North Carolina where he is serving a life sentence for spying for Israel.
Butner has a medical facility, suggesting Pollard had suffered an emergency condition that could not be treated by a conventional clinic, said Aaron Troodler, a spokesman for the campaign to release him.
Pollard, 57,apparently has since returned to the prison; an official at Butner told JTA on Friday that he was in his regular prison facility.
Pollard’s wife Esther had yet to reach him since learning of his hospitalization, Troodler said, and she called on his supporters to pray for his recovery and health.
Pollard, who has been imprisoned since 1986, reportedly has suffered from a variety of illnesses.
“There are many reasons to release him,” Troodler said. “This latest episode highlights how important the health factor is.”
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 3
Culture Is Pope Leo Jewish? Ask his distant cousins — like me
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Russell Brand defends Ye’s ‘Heil Hitler’ music video
-
Opinion Though sworn enemies, Hamas and Donald Trump seem to share a common language
-
Culture The woman who saved stolen Jewish art — and the writer who is finally telling her story
-
Fast Forward Israel’s Eurovision contestant, Yuval Raphael, says she’s focused on the music, not the protests
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.