Jonathan Jay Pollard (born August 7, 1954 in Galveston, Texas) is a former civilian intelligence analyst who was convicted of spying for Israel. He received a life sentence in 1987. Israel granted Pollard citizenship in 1995, while publicly denying that he was an Israeli spy until 1998. Israeli activist groups, as well as high-profile Israeli politicians such as Benjamin Netanyahu, have lobbied for his release. Pollard's case was later linked to that of Ben-Ami Kadish, another U.S. national who pleaded guilty to charges of passing classified information to Israel in the same period.