Jonathan Pollard, a former US Navy intelligence analyst who was jailed for spying for Israel, announced on Sunday that he was joining MK Sharren Haskel’s Israel First party ahead of the upcoming Knesset election, in a joint statement filmed near the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
Pollard publicly declared his support for Haskel and the political direction of Israel First, a new right-wing party that the former deputy foreign minister launched in July.
“I believe in Sharren. And I believe in Israel,” Pollard said during the joint statement.
Haskel welcomed Pollard’s support, describing his decision to join the party as a significant boost for Israel First.
“The Israel First party is receiving significant reinforcement today from Israeli hero Jonathan Pollard, who paid a very heavy personal price for his commitment to Israel and the Jewish people,” Haskel said.
“To stand here today, near the Western Wall, and hear from him that he places his trust in me and in the path of ‘Israel First’ is a great privilege and a great responsibility. I accept that trust with humility and determination."
Pollard welcomed by Netanyahu after imprisonment, becomes critic of PM
Pollard was in prison for 30 years after he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1987 for spying and providing Israel with top-secret classified information. He pleaded guilty to the charges. He was released on parole in 2015 and stayed in the US until 2020. He then immigrated to Israel and received a hero’s welcome from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon his arrival.
However, Pollard has since become a strong critic of Netanyahu and has said the current government must be replaced in the upcoming election.
Haskel announced last month that she was resigning from the government after the Knesset passed legislation freezing the arrests of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft evaders, saying she could no longer stand behind the government’s decisions.
She has been a fierce critic of the series of legislation that was advanced by the haredi parties – with government backing – which critics argued encouraged draft evasion, even amid the IDF’s severe manpower crisis. The Israel First Party's platform pushes for haredi draft and universal conscription to the IDF.
Haskel told The Jerusalem Post last month that her party could be a new political home for Right-wing voters who were dissatisfied with the current right-wing parties in Netanyahu's coalition.
Her party has called for a government that could consist of both parties from Netanyahu’s bloc and the opposition bloc seeking to oust the premier in the October 27 elections. Haskel has called on more Right-wing figures to join her.
Pollard calls for Gaza Strip annexation
Pollard has expressed far-right views and announced in May that he would enter politics ahead of the elections.
He said at the time in a Channel 13 interview that Israel should annex Gaza and repopulate the Strip.
When asked whether he would support Netanyahu as prime minister, Pollard had said: “If as a result of the democratic process, Bibi is returned as prime minister, then I believe in the democratic process, and we’ll have to support him. But my primary objective right now is to unify the Right.”
Pollard also said he would have no issue joining a government with Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman, while sharply criticizing former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who leads the B'Yachad Party, also in the opposition bloc.
Pollard announced in May that he wanted mandatory national service for all citizens, and failure to serve should result in the loss of voting rights and government assistance.