Video: Pollard speaks on Tuesday / Credit: Kan Reshet Bet

In the interview with Kan Reshet Bet, Pollard explained that he realized the full scale of the national failure through his own life: "I assumed my abandonment and the betrayal of me was an exceptional incident on Israel's part. But on October 7, I realized I was no exception. I realized the entire country was abandoned and betrayed. At that point, I concluded that I must do something to the best of my ability to prevent such a tragedy."

He directly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conduct during, particularly regarding the conflict with Iran and the air force's turning back after the attack in Beersheba due to US pressure: "Throughout the war, Netanyahu should have stood firm against Trump when it comes to Israel's security interests."

Regarding the meeting with US Ambassador Mike Huckabee and the backlash he received, Pollard dismissed all claims of a secret meeting, insisting it contained no details indicating improper involvement: "There was nothing secret in the meeting." Later in the interview with Kan Reshet Bet, Pollard leveled harsh criticism at the American intelligence community: "The CIA serves as a tool of the Democratic Party. My advice is that its branch here at the American Embassy should be cleaned out, and people who reflect the president's agenda should be brought in."

Speaking about his time in American prison, Pollard made public the trauma he experienced behind bars : "I was raped in prison as revenge for my actions for Israel. I'm glad that some of the hostages are talking about it now ." He added, "It is necessary to understand the monsters we are dealing with."

Pollard, who is contemplating running in the upcoming elections, linked his political aspirations to what he witnessed as an Israeli citizen after October 7 : "I concluded that I must do something to the best of my ability to prevent such a tragedy."

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On his show on the OAN network, former Congressman Matt Gaetz launched a fierce attack, revisiting the details of Pollard's espionage case and describing it as one of the most damaging intelligence breaches in US history. Gaetz said Pollard "knowingly and for payment stole US intelligence for a foreign country," and that a meeting with him by a US ambassador crossed a clear red line.

Gaetz also aired Huckabee's response, in which the ambassador said the meeting was "no big deal" and "nothing secret," noting that Pollard "committed a terrible crime and served 35 years in prison." Huckabee explained that the meeting was personal, as Pollard wanted to thank him for his support of Pollard's late wife. Huckabee added sarcastically that he also meets with "dangerous individuals, like New York Times journalists."

Gaetz, who has consistently voiced anti-Israel and even antisemitic views, withdrew from Congress after being Trump's nominee for US attorney general. When it became clear he lacked the Senate support to be confirmed, he stepped aside and Pam Bondi was chosen instead.

But for key figures in MAGA, Huckabee's explanation did not suffice. On his show with commentator and activist Jack Posobiec, Bannon demanded Huckabee's removal. "Why isn't he already on a plane back to get reprimanded by the president and fired?" Bannon said. Posobiec compared the move to a formal meeting with fugitive leaker Edward Snowden, saying such a meeting "requires direct White House approval, if at all."

Jonathan Pollard is a former intel analyst who grievously betrayed the United States by selling secrets to Israel…so why did a sitting U.S. ambassador meet with him?@MattGaetz takes a deep dive into Pollard's past, his treasonous crimes, and the bizarre history that led to his… pic.twitter.com/aRlKr5uenM

— One America News (@OANN) November 22, 2025

They described the meeting as a "PR disaster" for the Trump administration at a time when the MAGA base is particularly sensitive to anything seen as elite privilege. According to them, for large segments of Generation Z and working-class Americans in the heartland, scandals like Epstein and now Pollard feed into a broader narrative of anger at establishment figures acting above the law. "People are furious," they said, and questioning why an "America First" ambassador would meet with someone they view as a traitor.

A deeper debate about US-Israel relations

Alongside the public calls for dismissal, the controversy has sparked a deeper conversation within MAGA about the nature of the US-Israel relationship. Gaetz argued that the meeting sends a troubling signal about "blurring red lines in order to appease Israel," while Bannon and Posobiec warned of damage to America's image of sovereignty and national pride.

When asked about the issue on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt said the White House "was not aware of the meeting in advance," but stressed that President Trump "stands by our ambassador, Mike Huckabee, and everything he's doing for the US and Israel."

However, for many vocal Trump supporters, the meeting with Pollard is more than a diplomatic misstep, as it symbolizes a deeper rupture within the "America First" worldview.

"A friendly meeting"

Huckabee met with Jonathan Pollard in July at the US Embassy in Jerusalem. Pollard served 30 years in a US prison after being convicted of spying for Israel. According to the New York Times, the meeting surprised both the White House and the CIA.

Pollard confirmed the meeting to Israel Hayom, saying it was the first time a US official had hosted him in an office since his release. "It was a friendly meeting," he said.

According to reports, the meeting was not listed on Huckabee's official schedule, and its very occurrence alarmed the CIA's station chief in Israel. Senior White House officials were caught off guard when they learned about it, and it remains unclear whether the State Department had approved it.

Pollard told Israel Hayom the meeting was strictly personal. "Mr. Huckabee was a true gentleman. During the years I was in prison, he tried to help on humanitarian grounds. In particular, he gave a lot of support to my late wife Esther, who had cancer for many years. I wanted to thank him personally. The meeting was entirely personal and deeply so. We didn't talk about politics or anything else," he said.

Pollard remains barred from returning to the US, so the meeting could only have taken place in Israel. According to Israel Hayom, it was held openly at the ambassador's office in Jerusalem, with embassy staff and others fully aware of it.

Israel Hayom Summit

Meanwhile, Israel Hayom will launch the Israel Hayom Summit on December 2 at the Hilton Midtown in New York. The event will be hosted by journalist Yoav Limor along with Israel Hayom reporters and commentators, and will feature Dr. Miriam Adelson and tech entrepreneur Yasmin Lukatz.

The gathering seeks to forge bridges of connection and trust linking Israel with Diaspora Jewry, businesses with the US administration, and classical Zionism with the emerging landscape of technology, economics, and global communications. The summit will spotlight the period's central questions – how to build the day after the war, what role the American Jewry plays in shaping Israel's future, and how to preserve mutual responsibility and shared values connecting the Jewish people across the ocean.

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Pollard confirmed the meeting to the newspaper and noted this was the first time an American official hosted him in an office since his release. "It was a friendly meeting," he was quoted as saying. It should be noted that after being released from prison, Pollard is prevented from returning to the US, so the meeting with Huckabee could only take place in Israel.

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Esther Pollard, the wife of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, died in the early hours of Monday morning from complications arising from COVID-19. She was buried in Jerusalem later in the afternoon at Har HaMenuchot Cemetery in the capital, with many in attendance.

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Pollard was rushed to Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center on Saturday, where she was hospitalized in the COVID-19 intensive care unit. She was later diagnosed as suffering from septic shock.

"This is not how I expected for us to come to the land. But as much as you loved the land the land will now love you. The land will embrace you and you will truly become part of the land you loved so much," Pollard said at the funeral. "She was the one who taught me love to a god-given land ... she was the one who taught me everything I knew on Halachah, the Torah, everything."

Pollard continued, saying how he was "incredibly proud of her"." He added: "In the end, which came all too quickly, I never saw anyone as brave as she was." He ended his eulogy with, "I will love you forever."

Video: Yoni Rikner

"Esther and Jonathan always wanted to participate in forums that support the Samaria communities. This is a sad day for the entire Jewish people, who mourn this historic and exemplar person," mourned the head of the Shomron Regional Council Yosi Dagan . "Jonathan, we promise you that you will never be alone, and Esther, you will continue fighting for the truth up in the heavens."

"She left you a treasure chest for you to go on, she expects you to go on," he continued.

Another mourner said, "Never once did she give up on her dreams to come to Eretz Yisrael with Jonathan. He was her morning, afternoon, evening, late supper, Rosh Hodesh, everything was Jonathan for her." The mourner said that Jonathan Pollard told him how one of the first thing he did after arriving in Israel was to say a tribute to his wife. "She had outer beauty and inner strength, she was not afraid of any single person."

Pollard, who has been battling cancer for several years, was hospitalized "following a deterioration in her condition" after contracting the coronavirus two weeks ago.

Esther and Jonathan Pollard were married while he was serving a 35-year prison sentence in the United States, over espionage for Israel. He was released from prison after serving 30 years and spent the next five years on strict parole before immigrating to Israel in December 2020.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tweeted on Monday, "I was saddened to learn of the passing of Esther Pollard, a woman whose devotion and love for Jonathan Pollard was a symbol for strength, resolve and faith. May she rest in peace," he said.

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No one will tell the Jewish people where they can live, Jonathan Pollard said Thursday, speaking at this year's Sovereignty Youth conference, which opened Thursday at the Oz VeGaon Nature Preserve in Gush Etzion.

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The conference launched an official initiative to expand the borders of Jerusalem to include Mevasseret Zion, Gush Etzion, Maaleh Adumim, and some settlements in the Binyamin Regional Council.

"We received this land from God, not from the United States, not from the British, not from the United Nations, but from God. There is no need for us to explain our belief that this land is ours. No one will tell us where to live. The days of the ghetto have ended. We are a free Jewish people," Pollard said, adding that no American president would tell the Jewish people where they were allowed or not allowed to live.

Pollard said that Prime Minister-designate Naftali Bennett "must take action to defend our honor in the future," and urged conference participants to demand that Israel sovereignty over the four communities in northern Samaria that were evacuated as part of the 2005 disengagement plan be restored.

Pollard also called for more construction throughout Area C, due to "the need to expand Jerusalem."

"Our objective is to ensure a Jewish majority and prevent the isolation of the city," which he said was the goal of the Biden administration.

Touching on Israel's annual flag march, which was cancelled on Jerusalem Day due to escalating tensions in Jerusalem and postponed again after being pushed to June 10, Pollard asked, "Where will it end?"

"Security officials have no problem seeing Arabs with Palestinian flags on the Temple Mount … and that's OK? They are in our capital with Hamas flags. We must change our mentality," he said.

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Aviem Sella, the Israeli Mossad officer who recruited and initially handled former spy Jonathan Pollard, might soon be granted a higher military rank. IAF Commander Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin has recommended that Sella, who currently holds the rank of colonel (ret.), be granted the rank of brigadier general. Sella has been denied the promotion for decades due to the Pollard affair.

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Sella was in the United States in 1984, when he met then-CIA analyst Pollard, who would eventually provide Israel with classified US intelligence. Sella was apprehended when Pollard was arrested by the FBI in 1985 but he was nevertheless charged in absentia with three counts of espionage, and for years the US demanded that he be prosecuted.

In 1978, Sella was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and given command of Tel Nof Airbase, but he turned down the promotion to defuse US-Israel tensions and was subsequently appointed an instructor at the National Security College. He later retired from the military but continued to lend his experience to debates on strategic issues.

In January 2021, just before leaving office, US President Donald Trump pardoned Sella, following painstaking efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then-US Ambassador David Friedman and then-Israeli Ambassador to Washington Ron Drummer.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi has the final say in whether Sella will be promoted to the rank of brigadier general.

"The issue will be examined in accordance with accepted procedures," the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said in a statement.

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Thirty-seven years after working for Israel, Jonathan Pollard, who spied for Israel from the heart of American intelligence, tells his story for the first time as a free man in a special interview to Israel Hayom, to be published in full on Friday.

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In a series of meetings at his home in Jerusalem, Pollard went into the details about his decision to hand over to Israel vital information for its security, his conversations with Rafi Eitan, head of the Bureau of Scientific Contacts, who was responsible for his handling, the moments when he was taken out of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, the decades of imprisonment in the US, and his new life in Israel.

Pollard recounts the evening he called his then-wife, Anne, and apologized about not coming home for dinner, reciting the code words the couple had made up just a few days earlier: She needed to "water the cactus." That meant, he said, that she needed to leave town because he had been caught. Anne Pollard evaded the FBI and managed to get to Aviem Sella, his handler, who left the country.

Sella left Anne behind, but that's "another story," Pollard says, explaining that she was supposed to have been taken outside the US.

Moving to the present day, after his release, Pollard says the people in his new neighborhood are "wonderful." When he needs to, he goes out to the small market on the corner, and sometimes he and his wife, Esther, go grocery shopping together. It's hard for him to walk because of back pain and leg pain, he says, but it's "hard to describe" the wonder of taking a walk with Esther.

"Everything is so wonderful, the sky is blue and beautiful," he says. People talk to them, he says, and from the conversations, he gets the sense that "they know" that "someone was willing to sacrifice his life for them."

One thing puzzles him: Why do people ask to take selfies with him? He laughs at the "nonsense."

"When I went to prison, there were no smartphones and no selfies. Esther and I are both very private people, and privacy is important to us," he says.

The great tragedy

Pollard and Esther speak honestly about the heavy price they paid by not being able to have children while he was in prison for 30 years. Esther calls it "one of our greatest tragedies; one of the things that caused us the greatest grief."

Esther says that people in Israel are used to the idea that a person has a "basic right to have children – in the US, it's exactly the opposite." The moment you're convicted, she says, you no longer have rights – certainly not the right to have children. She says the couple "begged" the government to allow us the chance to have children, in any place and in any way. But in the US a wife is not allowed to be alone with her imprisoned husband, she says.

Pollard adds that anyone who says that men don't feel the same need for children that women do "is lying."

"Children are everything," he says.

Pollard, who was exposed and arrested in the fall of 1985, reveals in the interview that he and his former wife, Anne, are the ones who kept Sella out of the clutches of the FBI. He says the FBI stopped him outside his office, and he asked to be allowed to call Anne because Aviem and his wife were waiting for them at a restaurant to have dinner together. His main concern at that moment, he says, was to get Sella out of the country because he did not have diplomatic immunity.

He saw himself as disposable, whereas Sella was a hero, a "strategic asset" for Israel.

"I was just a soldier," he said.

Pollard describes the dramatic hours and days that preceded his capture by American authorities and his conversation with the security guard who brought him out of the embassy.

"The security guard told me, 'I'm sorry, Jerusalem told us that you need to go in and come out through the main gate.' I told him, 'I can't get to the main gate, 20 FBI agents are waiting for me outside. Do you know what they'll do to me?' And he said: 'Sorry, you have to leave.'"

In the interview, Pollard blames the late Rafi Eitan and his other Israeli handlers for his capture. He says that he was never trained as an agent, and there was no escape plan, and when he expressed concerns, Rafi brushed them off.

Pollard also discussed the many claims about him that were made over the years. He stresses that his only motivation for what he did was a desire to help Israel.

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Israel was under an intelligence embargo, he says. The Americans "stabbed Israel in the back" and didn't hand over information that they were obligated to under [existing] agreements. He says that not only was intelligence being kept from Israel, but Israel was being lied to. He says he was present in meetings where it happened.

"I know I crossed a line, but I had no choice," he says, pointing out that the threats to Israel were "serious." When an Arab state develops chemical weapons of mass destruction and the US hides that from Israel, every Jew should ask himself what "Never again" means, he says.

Rafi Eitan's family said in response to Pollard's comments that "Out of respect for his memory, total confidence in his integrity, wisdom, and motivation, which were solely for the sake of Israel – we as a family continue his path of refraining from any comment about Pollard."

Aviem Sella was unavailable for comment.

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Outgoing US President Donald Trump pardoned Aviem Sella on Wednesday morning, the Israeli agent who recruited and initially handled former spy Jonathan Pollard, as part of a wave of last-minute presidential pardons before leaving the White House.

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Sella, 75, is an Israeli citizen who was indicted in 1986 on espionage charges related to the Pollard affair. Sella never stood trial in the United States. His request for clemency was supported by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Dr. Miriam Adelson.

"The State of Israel has issued a full and unequivocal apology, and has requested the pardon in order to close this unfortunate chapter in U.S.-Israel relations," the White House said.

Also on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump has recently discussed forming a new political party. The president said he would want to call the new party the "Patriot Party."

As part of his flurry of clemency action, Trump also pardoned former chief strategist Steve Bannon along with 140 others.

Besides Bannon, other Trump family allies to get pardons were Elliott Broidy, a Republican fundraiser who pleaded guilty last fall in a scheme to lobby the White House to drop an investigation into the looting of a Malaysian wealth fund, and Ken Kurson, a friend of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner who was charged last October with cyberstalking during a heated divorce.

Bannon has been charged with duping thousands of investors who believed their money would be used to fulfill Trump's chief campaign promise to build a wall along the southern border with Mexico. Instead, he allegedly diverted over a million dollars, paying a salary to one campaign official and personal expenses for himself.

Bannon did not respond to questions Tuesday.

In August, he was pulled from a luxury yacht off the coast of Connecticut and brought before a judge in Manhattan, where he pleaded not guilty. When he emerged from the courthouse, Bannon tore off his mask, smiled and waved to news cameras. As he went to a waiting vehicle, he shouted, "This entire fiasco is to stop people who want to build the wall."

Trump has already pardoned a slew of longtime associates and supporters, including his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort; Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law; his longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone; and his former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

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Despite reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is interested in including former Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard on the Likud candidate list for the Knesset, it seems that Pollard does not see his future in politics.

"I've suffered enough," he reportedly quipped in a conversation with a close friend who inquired about the matter.

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Pollard and his wife Esther arrived in Israel on Wednesday after his remaining parole restrictions were lifted and some 30 years after he was arrested for spying for Israel as an analyst in the US Navy.

Pollard, who was released in 2015 but had various restrictions placed on his movement until November, said upon arrival in the Jewish state that he would like to become a productive citizen and that he and his wife want to "move on" with their lives. They are currently in quarantine, as is required for those who arrive in Israel from the United States.

"We're excited to finally be home after 35 years," Pollard said upon landing. "We thank the Israeli people and the Israeli prime minister for bringing us home.

"No one is as proud of this country and its leader as we are. This is a great country with a bright future. [Israel] is the future of the Jewish people, and we're not going anywhere."

Netanyahu greeted the couple at the airport and said, "Welcome home. It's so good to finally see you here. Now you can start over and live your lives free and happy. Now you're home."

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"It's a miracle!" Jonathan Pollard cried two nights ago as he boarded the plane that would take him to Israel.

Thirty-five years after he was arrested by American law enforcement, Pollard fulfilled his life's dream and made aliyah in a secret mission that only a few people knew about. At 2:59 a.m. Wednesday, the plane's wheels touched down on the runway. Pollard recited the Shehecheyanu prayer. Later, he got off the plane, kneeled on the ground, and kissed it. His wife, Esther, who was right behind him, did the same.

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'In freedom and happiness'

Thus ends a 37-year-old espionage affair that shook up Israeli-US relations, for which Pollard himself paid the heavy price: seven years in solitary confinement, 23 years in prison, and five years of probation. This was the heaviest sentence ever handed down to a spy of his caliber in the history of the US.

Upon arrival in Israel, Pollard was welcomed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who worked hard for years to secure the release of the Israeli spy. Netanyahu also recited Shehecheyanu and added a blessing for the release of bonds. He then handed Esther and Jonathan their Israeli ID cards and told them, "How wonderful that you've come home. Now you can start a new life, in freedom and happiness. Now you're home."

Pollard thanked the prime minister for his efforts to get him released and for allowing the couple to make aliyah. "We are thrilled to finally be home after 35 years. We thank the people of Israel and the prime minister of Israel for bringing us home. There is no one prouder of this country, or its leader, than we are."

An apartment in Jerusalem

Pollard stressed that he and Esther intended to "become productive citizens as soon as possible and continue our lives here. This is a wonderful country. It has a brilliant future. It is the future of the Jewish people and we aren't going anywhere."

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Pollard's arrival in Israel was made possible after the Trump administration last month agreed to remove the last restrictions on him, effectively allowing him to leave the US. Since then, the couple and a group of volunteers were busy arranging their living situation in Israel. An apartment was prepared for them in Jerusalem, and they reached out to a hospital to continue Esther's cancer treatment. At the same time, generous Jews Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson lent the couple their private plane to allow them to arrive in Israel privately, with the necessary medical support. On Tuesday afternoon, the couple left their home in New York for the airport. Having suffered all his years in prison, and from attacks by US authorities, Pollard was tense. He was afraid that while en route to the airport, something would happen at the last minute that would delay the great moment.

Very exited

But when the two went through passport control and boarded the plane, his mood changed. He was very excited and told those around him, "It's a miracle." During the flight, Pollard joked with the crew and prayed. As the aircraft approached Israel, he was invited to the cockpit, from where he saw the Israeli coastline for the first time. Upon arrival, Jonathan and Esther Pollard entered the mandatory two-week quarantine. When it is over, they intend to find jobs in Israel and make use of the vast knowledge they have acquired over the years to benefit Israel.

Ariel Kahana contributed to this report.  

The Adelson family owns the company that is the primary shareholder in Israel Hayom.

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