JERUSALEM (AP) – Jonathan Pollard, who has spent 30 years in US prison for espionage for Israel, arrived in Israel with his wife in early Wednesday on Wednesday, kissing the ground triumphantly as he exited the plane in the peak of a decade- long affair that had lasted a long time. tense relations between the two closest allies.
“We are ecstatic to finally be home after 35 years,” Pollard said when greeted at Israel’s international airport by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli leader jubilantly handed Pollard and his wife Esther Israeli ID cards, granting them citizenship.
“You’re home,” Netanyahu said, offering a Hebrew thanksgiving. “What a moment. What a moment. “
Pollard arrived on a private jet owned by US casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire supporter of both Netanyahu and President Donald Trump.
Pollard, 66, and his wife slowly descended the stairs as they exited the plane. Pollard got on his knees and kissed the floor while his wife placed her hand on his back with Netanyahu in the darkness. Esther Pollard, who is fighting cancer, kissed the ground and was helped by her husband.
Pollard thanked Netanyahu and the Jewish people for their support. “We hope to become productive citizens as soon and as soon as possible and get on with our lives here,” he said.
Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst for the United States Navy, sold military secrets to Israel while working at the Pentagon in the 1980s. He was arrested in 1985 after unsuccessfully seeking asylum at the Israeli embassy in Washington and pleaded guilty. The espionage affair embarrassed Israel and affected relations with the United States for years.
Pollard was sentenced to life imprisonment and US defense and intelligence officials consistently argued against his release. But after 30 years in federal prison, he was released on November 20, 2015, and was given a five-year parole that ended in November. That paved the way for him to leave the US
Pollard’s arrival was first reported by Israel Hayom, a newspaper owned by Adelson. The newspaper published photos of Pollard and his wife, both wearing masks, stating that it was a private plane arriving early Wednesday from Newark, New Jersey. It said the private flight was necessary due to Esther Pollard’s medical needs. The newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Boaz Bismuth, called it “the most exciting day” of his four-decade journalism career.
Photos of the plane with the Pollards matched the color scheme of planes from the Las Vegas Sands Corp., Adelson’s hotel and casino company. Flight tracking data showed that a Boeing 737 owned by the company, tail number N108MS, took off from Newark to Ben-Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv.
Effi Lahav, head of an activist group that had campaigned for Pollard’s release from prison, said Pollard had flown overnight on a “top-secret” mission. “The fact that Esther and Jonathan got here in Israel really fascinates us,” he told the army radio station.
The Ynet website said the couple were in quarantine, which is mandatory for all returning Israelis as a measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The country has blocked the arrival of all tourists, but seemed to welcome the couple as Israelis.
Pollard’s release was the latest in a long line of diplomatic gifts President Donald Trump gave Netanyahu. His arrival in Israel gives the controversial Netanyahu a welcome boost as he fights for re-election in the March 23 parliamentary election.
Netanyahu has been one of Trump’s closest allies on the international stage. In the past four years, Trump has recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the US embassy to the holy city. In other deviations from traditional US positions, Trump has also acknowledged Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, said Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not illegal and has made a series of diplomatic agreements between Israel and Arab countries.