Jonathan Pollard spoke about the treatment he received from the Israeli government during his imprisonment in the United States, claiming that an Israeli representative suggested he end his life.
Pollard was interviewed this morning (Monday) on Galai Tzahal (IDF Radio), where he shared deep disappointment with the way the Israeli government handled his case during the years he was incarcerated in an American prison. He said that instead of receiving backing and protection from the state, he experienced conduct that caused him severe harm.
Pollard described a particularly painful moment in which, he claims, an Israeli representative suggested that he commit suicide as a way to close the affair. He said the remarks were made to him directly and left him stunned.
In his words, Pollard said: “As disappointed as the Israeli government was with the situation, there was no need to send someone to me to tell me to kill myself. It would have been better if the Israeli government had come to defend me, instead of denying the obvious. What was done to me was simply terrible.”
He went on to describe the nature of what was said to him: “They came and said to me: You’re a patriot, right? So why are you making all of us suffer so much? Why don’t you just do the right thing? We’ll bring you home, give you a respectable burial, and we’ll be able to close this file. And I didn’t understand what he meant.”
According to Pollard, it was an American official who prevented this from happening: “Then it was the American who looked at me and said: You must not do this. You have to live, and you will return home one day. The American said it to me-you will return home one day.”