Jonathan Pollard welcomed ‘home’ by Netanyahu after 30 years in US prison for selling military secrets

Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes ex-US navy analyst Jonathan Pollard 

Credit: Anadolu

Jonathan Pollard, a former US Navy analyst who spent 30 years in prison for passing secret military intelligence to Israel, arrived in Israel to a hero’s welcome from prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Mr Pollard, one of the most prolific spies in US history, was greeted by Mr Netanyahu holding Israeli ID cards for him and his wife after they were released from parole travel restrictions by the Trump administration.

“You’re home,” the prime minister said, after reciting a Hebrew blessing of thanks.

Mr Pollard touched down on a private plane owned by American casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire supporter of both Netanyahu and President Donald Trump. The lifting of parole restrictions was seen as the latest in a string of diplomatic gifts from the departing Trump administration.

In the 1980s, as a young former US Navy analyst, Mr Pollard sold classified documents to the Israelis in exchange for thousands of dollars per month. He was courted by Israelis in Paris, where he was also given a diamond ring worth $10,000, which he used to propose to his wife.

Jonathan Pollard, 66, a former U.S. Navy analyst who served 30 years in prison for spying for Israel, and his wife Esther, pose for a picture aboard a private plane flying to Israel December 30

Mr Pollard was initially motivated by the belief that America was withholding intelligence on Israel’s Arab enemies. He was said to have delivered a suitcase of documents at the end of every week to a car wash for his handlers.

The information he supplied helped Israel identify and attack the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) headquarters in Tunis in 1985.

That same year he was arrested by the FBI while trying to claim asylum at the Israeli embassy in Washington.

The incident heavily strained relations between the US and Israel. But Mr Pollard was awarded Israeli citizenship in 1995 and a campaign began to have him released and be allowed to move to Israel.

The campaign was organised by Esther Zeitz woh caught the attention of Mr Netanyahu with a 190-day hunger strike. She later married Mr Pollard after he divorced his first wife.

Stepping off their plane on Wednesday the couple removed their masks and kissed the ground before greeting Mr Netanyahu.

“We are ecstatic to be home at last after 35 years,” said Mr Pollard.

Along with his wife Esther, who is battling cancer, Mr Pollard, 66, is now expected to enter several days of quarantine.