Former American Jewish spy Jonathan Pollard welcomed as hero in Israel
Jonathan Pollard was released after thirty years in prison in 2015 by the United States.
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Former American Jewish spy Jonathan Pollard arrived in Israel on December 30.
He was arrested in the United States in 1985 for spying for the Hebrew state.
Released five years ago, Jonathan Pollard was until recently banned from leaving the United States.
His case has long troubled relations between Washington and Israel.
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From our correspondent in Jerusalem
,
Sami Boukhelifa
It was a moment of intense emotion for
Jonathan Pollard
and his wife.
As they got off the plane, the couple bowed down and embraced their new home.
The Israeli Prime Minister was present on the tarmac.
He was waiting for the man considered a true hero in Israel.
Proudly, Benyamin Netanyahu handed him his Teoudat Zehout, his Israeli identity card.
Jonathan Pollard, a former US Navy analyst, now 66, has spent almost half of his life behind bars.
Thirty years of imprisonment
Sentenced to life imprisonment, he was finally released in November 2015, after thirty years in prison.
However, he remained under surveillance in the United States with the obligation to wear an electronic bracelet and ban on leaving the territory.
Last month, the US justice finally lifted all its restrictions.
Whoever provided classified documents to the Hebrew state for years was finally free to leave.
According to the CIA, it is thanks to information transmitted by Jonathan Pollard, that Israel bombed in the mid-1980s, the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), then exiled in Tunisia.
It is also thanks to him that Abu Jihad, the number two of the PLO, is eliminated.
► To read also: Jonathan Pollard: the spy of discord
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