{"id":27090,"date":"2021-03-22T22:37:10","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T22:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/03\/22\/pollard-ex-navy-analyst-defends-spying-on-us-for-israel-in-rare-interview\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:33:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:33:36","slug":"pollard-ex-navy-analyst-defends-spying-on-us-for-israel-in-rare-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2021\/03\/22\/pollard-ex-navy-analyst-defends-spying-on-us-for-israel-in-rare-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Pollard, ex-Navy analyst, defends spying on US for Israel in rare interview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

JERUSALEM \u2014 Jonathan Pollard, an American who served a 30-year sentence for spying for Israel, defends his actions in his first interview since arriving in Israel<\/a> late last year. He says America had \u201cstabbed Israel in the back\u201d by withholding intelligence from its ally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In excerpts from the interview with the Israel Hayom daily published Monday, Pollard describes his happiness at being a free man in Israel while expressing regret that he was not able to father children because of his incarceration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pollard, now 66, sold military secrets to Israel while working as a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy in the 1980s. He was arrested in 1985 after trying unsuccessfully to gain asylum at the Israeli Embassy in Washington and pleaded guilty. The espionage affair embarrassed Israel and tarnished its relations with the United States for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\t