Former American-Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, who spent 30 years in jail in the United States after being convicted of giving Israel thousands of classified documents, told Channel 12 on Tuesday that the Israeli government had missed several opportunities to bring him back.
When asked if he expected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to talk to U.S. President Donald Trump about the possibility of bringing him to Israel, Pollard said:
"There have been numerous occasions where this could have been done. It's a question of priorities. And there always seems to be something else. Whether it's the Iran deal, the U.S. Embassy move to Jerusalem or recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights; there's always something. To make me a priority, would mean that the [Israeli] government actually cared about me," Pollard said.
Netanyahu's office later issued a statement that declared: "Israel remains committed to returning Jonathan Pollard to Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu has raised the matter many times with the U.S. president and will continue doing so until he is returned."
Pollard was released on parole in 2015 after nearly 30 years from the facility in Butner, North Carolina, where he was assigned to serve a life sentence.
Despite his harsh criticism of the Israeli government's lack of efforts to bring him back, Pollard hasn't lost his faith.
"If I didn't believe in God, I'd be very depressed right now," he said.
This article was originally published by i24NEWS. Read more at https://www.i24news.tv/en.
