Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst who spent three decades in prison for espionage on behalf of Israel, has announced his intention to run for a seat in the Knesset this year, advocating for a controversial platform centered on ethnic cleansing.
In an interview with Channel 13, Pollard expressed his preference for the “forcible removal” of all inhabitants of Gaza, proposing its annexation and subsequent repopulation by Israelis.
Pollard’s political aspirations were galvanized by the Hamas assault on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, which resulted in nearly 1,200 fatalities and sparked the ongoing conflict in Gaza. He criticized the Israeli government for its failure to avert the attack and for its sluggish response once it commenced.
“Until that point, I believed that the neglect and betrayal I experienced from the government was an isolated incident, but after October 7, I came to understand that it was not unique to me,” he stated.
Released on parole at age 61 in 2015, Pollard had been incarcerated for 30 years after being convicted of passing classified military information to Israel for financial gain. He and his wife, Anne Henderson, were apprehended in 1985 after he transmitted a vast quantity of sensitive documents to Israeli intelligence—enough to occupy a room measuring 10 feet by 6 feet by 6 feet, according to his own estimates. In exchange, he received cash and jewelry.
Marion Bowman, a lawyer from the Pentagon who evaluated the impact of Pollard’s actions on U.S. national security, remarked in a 2014 NBC News report that Pollard was driven by both financial motives and loyalty to Israel, suggesting he had shared highly classified information with two additional nations.
Pollard entered a guilty plea in 1986 in an attempt to avoid a life sentence; however, a federal judge rejected the plea agreement the following year. During his incarceration, he received support from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and was granted Israeli citizenship while imprisoned.
His parole conditions prohibited him from leaving the U.S. for a period of five years, but Pollard moved to Israel in 2020 after fulfilling his parole requirements, receiving a hero’s welcome from Netanyahu upon his arrival.
Despite their previous rapport, Pollard has emerged as a vocal critic of Netanyahu. In his recent interview, he asserted that Israel is not succeeding in the ongoing war that began in 2023 and called for a change in leadership along with a more decisive policy direction.
According to Channel 13, Pollard will be entering politics under a new party formed with Nissim Louk, whose daughter, Shani, was killed in the October 7 attack while attending a music festival near the Gaza border.
Although he has expressed severe criticisms of the government’s security lapses that made Israel susceptible to such attacks, Pollard indicated that if Netanyahu remains in power following the anticipated elections in October, “then we will have to support him.”
