Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked on the phone on Tuesday with Jonathan Pollard, a former intelligence analyst who served three decades in prison for spying for and giving classified information to Israel, and who was freed last week from his parole conditions.
Netanyahu’s office released a video on its social-media channels of the prime minister talking to the 66-year-old, saying he looks forward to Pollard and his wife arriving in the Jewish state.
“We’re waiting for you. You should really feel at home,” the prime minister told Pollard. “You should now have a comfortable life where both of you can pursue your interests, and we can take care of Esther in the best medical treatment in the world.”
Esther Pollard, who also talked to Netanyahu during the Tuesday phone call, has been fighting an aggressive form of cancer.
Pollard has had a lifelong dream of living in Israel, where he holds citizenship. When he will move is unknown.
Last week, the U.S. Parole Commission declined to renew Pollard’s parole conditions and issued a certificate terminating parole and lifting all parole restrictions.
Pollard’s conditions under the Parole Commission, since being released in 2015, included remaining in New York City for at least five years unless granted permission to travel outside, having his computer use monitored by the U.S. government and wearing a wrist monitor.
