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Jonathan Pollard spent 30 years behind bars in the U.S. for spying for Israel. Now he's running for a seat in Israel's Parliament. In an interview with NPR, Pollard says he feels remorse for his spying. NPR's Daniel Estrin in Israel spoke to him.
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DANIEL ESTRIN: The Jonathan Pollard affair was an historic blow to U.S. Israel relations.
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UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: Pollard, a Jewish American, used his position as a naval intelligence analyst to spy for Israel.
ESTRIN: This is a clip from "60 Minutes" in the late 1980s. Pollard sold suitcases filled with top-secret documents to Israel, including reconnaissance photos of Israel's enemies. He said he had felt a strong connection to Israel because his mother lost relatives in the Holocaust, and he thought the U.S. was withholding intelligence that was crucial for Israel's security.
After 30 years behind bars, Pollard received parole in 2015. He was required to stay in the U.S. for five more years. He had been granted Israeli citizenship and moved to Israel as soon as he could in 2020. This week, he spoke with NPR from his home in Jerusalem. His feelings about Israel are complex. Back in the '80s, when he was exposed as a spy, he sought refuge in the Israeli embassy but was denied asylum and was arrested by the FBI.
JONATHAN POLLARD: I also had assumed that my abandonment and betrayal by the Israeli government was the exception to the rule. When October 7 happened, I suddenly realized that the entire country had been betrayed and abandoned.
ESTRIN: In Jerusalem, he helped dig graves for fallen Israeli soldiers after the Hamas attack in 2023. He points a finger at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
POLLARD: He's never taken any share of the blame for the disaster that fell upon us on that day. And he's made a series of horrific blunders following October 7, where we have not decisively defeated any of our enemies.
ESTRIN: Pollard is planning a run for the Israeli Parliament as a member of a small, new right-wing party. He wants to unify the Israeli right in this year's elections. He calls for the, quote, "involuntary transfer" of Palestinians out of Gaza, repopulating it with Israelis.
YOSSI MELMAN: The decision of Jon Pollard to join Israeli politics is an amusing anecdote.
ESTRIN: Yossi Melman coauthored "Spies Against Armageddon," a history of Israeli intelligence services.
MELMAN: It won't have any impact on Israeli elections, on Israeli politics. If he decides to run to be the next pope, his chances are similar.
ESTRIN: When Pollard moved to Israel in 2020, he defended his espionage, saying he had no choice. Now he tells NPR he is remorseful and wishes he'd found a, quote, "legal way" to act on his concerns for Israel's security.
POLLARD: I made a mistake. I didn't think about the consequences. And 30 years later, here I am, trying to leave a better legacy.
ESTRIN: Attitudes have changed in 30 years. When Pollard was sentenced for espionage in the late '80s, the U.S. defense secretary said he had substantially harmed the U.S. But last year, Pollard was given an audience at the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem with President Trump's ambassador, Mike Huckabee. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
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