JERUSALEM (AP) – Jonathan Pollard, who spent 30 years in U.S. prison for spying on Israel, arrived in Israel’s first hour on Wednesday with his wife, triumphantly kissing the ground as he got off the plane at the climax of a decades-long affair of strained relations between the two close allies.
“We are ecstatic to be home after 35 years,” Pollard said when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received him at Israel International Airport. The Israeli leader retired to give Pollard and his wife Esther Israeli identity cards, granting them citizenship.
“You’re home,” Netanyahu said, reciting a Hebrew blessing of thanks. “What a moment. What a moment. “
Pollard arrived in a private jet provided by American 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 boarded the plane. Pollard got on his knees and kissed the ground as his wife put her hand on his back with Netanyahu in the dark. Esther Pollard, who is battling cancer, kissed the ground and was helped by her husband.
Pollard thanked Netanyahu and the Jewish people for their support. “We look forward to becoming productive citizens as soon and as quickly as possible and continuing our lives here,” he said.
Pollard, a U.S. Navy civil intelligence analyst, sold military secrets to Israel while working at the Pentagon in the 1980s. He was arrested in 1985 after trying unsuccessfully for asylum at the Israeli embassy in Washington and pleaded guilty. The espionage affair embarrassed Israel and tarnished its relations with the United States for years.
Pollard was sentenced to life in prison and U.S. defense and intelligence officials constantly defended his freedom. But after serving 30 years in federal prison, he was released on Nov. 20, 2015, and went on a five-year probation period that ended in November. This 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 in masks, on what was said to be a private plane that arrived early Wednesday morning from Newark, New Jersey. He said the private flight was necessary due to the medical needs of Esther Pollard. The newspaper’s editor, Boaz Bismuth, called it “the most exciting day” of his four-decade journalistic career.
The photographs of the plane with the Pollards matched the color scheme of the planes owned by Las Vegas Sands Corp., the Adelson-owned hotel and casino company. Flight tracking data showed that a company-owned Boeing 737, queue number N108MS, was leaving Newark for 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 been transferred overnight to a “top secret” mission. “The fact that Esther and Jonathan came here to Israel excites us a lot,” he told the army radio station.
Ynet’s website said the couple was in quarantine, which is mandatory for all returning Israelis as a measure to protect themselves from the spread of the coronavirus. The country has banned the arrival of all tourists, but it seems to have welcomed the couple as Israelis.
Pollard’s release was the latest in a long line of diplomatic gifts given to Netanyahu by President Donald Trump. His arrival in Israel gives Netanyahu a welcome push as he fights for re-election in the March 23 parliamentary elections.
Netanyahu has been one of Trump’s closest allies on the international stage. For the past four years, Trump has recognized the disputed Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the U.S. embassy to the holy city. In other apartments of traditional U.S. positions, Trump has also acknowledged the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights, said Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not illegal, and has brokered a series of diplomatic agreements between Israel and the West Bank. Arab nations.