Jonathan Pollard, the former Navy analyst who passed top secret information to Israel, was given a hero's welcome by far-right Likudnik Prime Minister Bibi " Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu as he arrived in Tel Aviv earlier today. Pollard shared the classified information with Israel and was sentenced to life in prison in 1987. He was released on restricted parole in 2015 after serving nearly 30 years, during which time he was granted Israeli citizenship.
While Pollard is embraced as a hero among right-wing Israelis, the damage he did to U.S. - Israeli relations with his espionage was significant, and some in Israel were wise enough to shy away from Netanyahu's warm welcome, per the Washington Post:
"Among the few critics of the positive response to Pollard’s release was former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who said that he 'would prefer that he not immigrate to Israel' because 'coming to Israel will intensify the damage this affair has done to us.'
Avigdor Liberman, a political opponent of Benjamin Netanyahu, said, 'I suggest we lower our level of excitement, because it doesn’t help with the American defense system, which sees the Pollard affair as an unacceptable incident that violated acceptable codes between Israel and the U.S.'” (our emphasis)
That Netanyahu would treat Pollard as a national hero after he betrayed the U.S. speaks volumes about his cynical, transactional view of Israeli-U.S. relations and the value of our alliance. File it under, "with friends like this, who needs enemies?"
(photo: Netanyahu, left, greeting Pollard)
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