Former spy Jonathan Pollard announces Knesset run

Calling for annexation of the Gaza Strip and transfer of its population to third-party countries, former spy Jonathan Pollard announces plans to run for the Knesset while criticizing both Netanyahu and Bennett.

By World Israel News Staff

Jonathan Pollard, the former US Navy analyst who served 30 years in an American prison for spying on behalf of Israel, said he will enter Israeli politics and run in the country’s next Knesset election, tentatively scheduled for this October.

Pollard said in a Channel 13 interview on Monday that the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion pushed him toward public life after a long period of deliberation. He said Israel needs new leadership and a sharper wartime policy.

“Up until that point, I thought that my abandonment and the betrayal by the government was the exception to the rule. But after October 7, I realized that I was not the exception, that the government and the military had betrayed and abandoned the entire country,” Pollard said.

Pollard said he would run alongside Nissim Louk, the father of Shani Louk, the German-Israeli woman killed after fleeing the Nova music festival whose body was taken into Gaza. Israeli forces recovered her body in May 2024.

In the interview, Pollard expressed support for annexation of the Gaza Strip and what he called a “full transfer” of Gaza’s population, saying Israel was not winning the war.

“I personally favor forcible transfer of all current residents from Gaza out, and the annexation of Gaza and the repopulation of Gaza by us.”

He said the country needed “leadership that will restore deterrence and victory.”

Pollard also criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wartime leadership, adding that he would respect any democratic decision by voters.

The former spy ruled out cooperation with former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, saying Bennett was “right” in some of his criticism of Netanyahu but could not be a political partner because of past security decisions.

“It’s chutzpadik on his part to point a finger at Netanyahu for October 7 without acknowledging his own responsibility for bringing this disaster about,” Pollard charged.

“[Bennett] was the one who basically doubled the number of Gazan workers coming into the communities along the border.”

Pollard previously floated a move into politics. In a March 2024 interview, he said: “After October 7th, I understood that something has to change in this state, and that I want to be part of that change.”

Pollard pleaded guilty in 1986 to conspiracy to commit espionage for passing classified US documents to Israel. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 and released on parole in 2015. He moved to Israel in 2020 after his parole restrictions expired.

His case returned to public attention last year after reports that US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met him at the US Embassy in Jerusalem. The White House said it was unaware of the meeting in advance, while Pollard said he had requested it for personal reasons and wanted to thank Huckabee for support during his imprisonment.

Along with the annexation of Gaza and the transfer of its population out of the area, Pollard said he would campaign on universal mandatory service, not only for ultra-Orthodox Jews but also for Arabs.

“I believe very strongly that everyone in this country — Arabs, Jews, it doesn’t matter, right and left — has to serve mandatory national service of one’s choice,” Pollard said.