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.”
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.
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.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO