Jonathan Pollard slams hostage deal as ‘monstrous blunder’

Former spy Jonathan Pollard says Israeli government should have barred relatives of captives from publicly protesting.

By World Israel News Staff

Former Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard castigated the Israeli government Thursday over its decision to enter into a ceasefire with the Hamas terrorist organization and to release 150 jailed Arab terrorists in exchange for the freeing of 50 Israeli civilian captives.

Speaking with Rabbi David Bar Hayim of Machon Mamre, Pollard called the ceasefire a “monstrous blunder.”

Noting the pressure on the government to reach a deal with Hamas, including public protests led by relatives of the captives, Pollard argued that Israel should have suspended the right to protest as an emergency measure during the war.

“When we declared war, the first thing that the government should have done was declare a state of national emergency and told all of the hostage families ‘you will keep your mouths shut or we will shut them for you’.”

“You will not interfere in our management of this war. You will not be used by the international community or by our own leftists who managed the Shalit deal as a weapon against us. If that means imprisoning to silence certain members of the hostage families then so be it.”

Having served some three decades in prison in the U.S. for spying on behalf of Israel in the 1980s, Pollard said that he had opposed offers to Israel by Washington to grant him an early release in exchange for an Israeli release of Palestinian terrorists.

Pollard predicted that the ceasefire would mark the end of the current war against Hamas, adding that Israel will face intense pressure from the Biden administration not to resume hostilities after the current lull in the fighting.