"I Made A Mistake": Ex-US Spy Jonathan Pollard To Run For Israeli Parliament

A former US intelligence analyst who spent 30 years in prison for spying for Israel has apologised for his actions. Jonathan Pollard also announced he would run for Israel's parliament, the Knesset, in the upcoming elections later this year.

In an interview with NPR, Pollard said, "I made a mistake; I didn't think about the consequences. And 30 years later, here I am trying to leave a better legacy." 

Pollard was arrested in 1985 after passing highly classified US documents, including military intelligence and reconnaissance photographs, to Israel while working as a civilian analyst for the US Navy. 

Reports state that he passed thousands of secret files to Israeli handlers in exchange for money and gifts.

He later said that he felt emotionally connected to Israel because some of his mother's relatives were killed during the Holocaust. He believed the US government was withholding important intelligence that Israel needed for its security.

He pleaded guilty to espionage charges and was sentenced to life in prison in 1987. While imprisoned in the US, Israel granted him citizenship in 1995.

He was released on parole in 2015 after serving 30 years and moved to Israel in 2020 after travel restrictions ended.

Pollard arrived in Tel Aviv on December 30, 2020. When he got off the plane, he famously bent down and kissed the airport tarmac. He was welcomed by then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who praised him and called his arrival a "happy moment" for the country.

After the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, Pollard said he felt the country's leaders had failed to protect Israeli citizens. He also strongly criticised Netanyahu for not accepting responsibility for the security failures.

Pollard said the October 7 attack pushed him to enter politics and remove the current Palestinian population from the Gaza Strip and bring the territory under full Israeli control. He also said he wants Israelis to resettle Gaza.

He believes the Israeli government failed to protect its citizens.

"I also had assumed that my abandonment and betrayal by the Israeli government was the... exception to the rule. When October 7th happened, I suddenly realised that the entire country had been betrayed and abandoned," he said.