France 24
Former spy Pollard greeted as hero in Israel after 30 years in US detention
Jonathan Pollard, an American imprisoned in the United States in 1985 for spying on behalf of the Hebrew state, landed in Israel on Wednesday, where he was greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “You are at home,” launched Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Jonathan Pollard and his wife, who arrived in Israel on Wednesday, December 30. This American imprisoned in the United States in 1985 for spying on behalf of the Hebrew state, was greeted by the Israeli Prime Minister after serving 30 years in prison for delivering documents from the United States classified as defense secret. Jonathan Pollard, a former US Navy analyst now aged 66, was released in November 2015 with an obligation to wear an electronic bracelet and respect a curfew and, most importantly, a ban on leaving the territory. American for five years despite Israeli pressure to leave. The US Department of Justice finally lifted the conditions in November. Heroes in Israel A video released Wednesday morning by the Israeli prime minister’s office shows Jonathan Pollard and his wife Esther stepping down the gangway of a plane towards Benjamin Netanyahu, who raises his hand in greeting. Jonathan Pollard then removed his protective coronavirus mask and then knelt to kiss the ground, with his wife doing the same. The two exchanged a few words, after which the prime minister handed him an Israeli identity card. One who is considered a hero in Israel explains that he and his wife are “delighted to be home at last after 35 years and we thank the people and the Prime Minister of Israel for bringing us home.” “We hope to become productive citizens as quickly as possible and to continue with our lives here,” he added. Sharing secrets Israel began its third confinement on Sunday because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which notably imposes on new arrivals in the country a quarantine of at least ten days. There is no indication at this stage whether the Pollard couple have been exempted from this obligation or not. Several major Israeli dailies, including Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post, had earlier reported that the couple landed in Israel on Wednesday. The Israel Hayom newspaper report included a photo of Jonathan Pollard and his wife on a plane, wearing masks. Benjamin Netanyahu had welcomed on November 21 “the lifting of restrictions on Jonathan Pollard” and wished that he arrives “in Israel soon”. According to the Israeli statement, he had “been committed to securing his release for several years” and had worked “tirelessly” to bring him back to Israel. Thousands of American Documents Released By the mid-1980s, Pollard, an American Jew, contacted an Israeli colonel in New York and began sharing US secrets with the Hebrew state, in return for tens of thousands of dollars. In total, he had disclosed thousands of American documents. He was arrested in 1985 and sentenced two years later to life in prison after pleading guilty. His case has long been a thorn in relations between Washington and Israel. Senior officials from the Pentagon or the CIA intelligence agency have never forgiven the spy for the mass of classified defense-secret information delivered for money, and in the midst of the Cold War, to Israel, a strategic ally of the United States. According to CIA documents declassified in 2012, Jonathan Pollard allegedly helped Israel bomb the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) then in exile in Tunisia in 1985, an attack that left some 60 dead, and to assassinate the number two of the PLO, Abou Jihad, in Tunis in 1988. With AFP
–
