Jonathan Pollard endorses Shaked, then retracts support hours later

Endorsing an Israeli politician for the first time since moving to Israel some two years ago, convicted spy Jonathan Pollard published a video on Tuesday urging people to vote for Ayelet Shaked’s Zionist Spirit party in November’s general election.

Hours later, however, amid fierce criticism of the move by multiple opposition MKs, Pollard retracted his endorsement of Shaked, citing her refusal to commit to only join a right-wing government.

Pollard, a former US Navy analyst who moved to Israel in late 2020 — 35 years after he was arrested for spying for the Jewish state — said Tuesday morning that he believed Shaked was the “proven patriot” Israel needed right now.

“As everyone knows, I’m not a member of any political party or faction. And [until] today I have not formally endorsed any individual or slate. I’m an independent whose only loyalty and concern is for the land and people of Israel,” he said, speaking in English.

“Because of my unqualified love for this country and my dedication to her survival and well-being, I must now endorse someone who I know will serve Israel in a way that will safeguard both our core interests and our honor. That person is Ayelet Shaked,” he added.

But by Tuesday evening, Pollard, who lives in Jerusalem, walked back his support for Shaked in a statement to the settler-aligned right-wing news outlet Arutz Sheva.

https://twitter.com/Rtziyonit/status/1564495533821071361

“After the things I said regarding Ayelet Shaked this morning, it became clear to me that she refuses to remove Yoaz Hendel from her list and to commit that she will only join a right-wing government,” read the statement from Pollard. “This raises a real concern that she will once again transfer votes from the right to the left. Therefore, I retract my support for her.”

Hendel, the current communications minister who was elected to the 24th Knesset with New Hope, has been more forceful than Shaked about refusing to sit with opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu in a future government. Yet it is highly unlikely that Shaked would have agreed to separate from Hendel, who co-founded the Zionist Spirit party with her last month.

In response to Pollard’s retraction, Shaked blamed the “poison machine” emanating from opposition MKs for “placing Jonathan in an impossible situation,” and said she was “happy that he removed himself from the eye of the storm.”

Shaked added that an “Israeli hero” like Pollard “deserves to be at the heart of the consensus and not a target of the toxic discourse of Israeli politics.”

In his original video, Pollard was somewhat critical of Shaked for her role in the unity government under Prime Minister Yair Lapid, and before that Naftali Bennett — an alliance of left, right, centrist and Arab parties — saying she exhibited “misplaced loyalty,” but stressed that “she realizes the mistakes she made and will not repeat her error.”

Despite Pollard’s proclamations, Shaked — who has not ruled out sitting with Netanyahu — has repeatedly publicly expressed support for a unity government, and spoken out against forming a narrow right-wing government.

Shaked said Tuesday morning that Pollard’s original statement was his idea.

“He said he wanted to support me. He thinks the State of Israel needs me. It was definitely an initiative that came from him,” she told Army Radio.

But not everyone seemed convinced, with Likud lawmakers accusing Shaked of manipulating Pollard for her own political gain.

“Ayelet, you’ve managed to trick Pollard too. You’ve dragged him into your dance of lies — cynical political exploitation of a dear person. What else are you capable of?” Likud MK Miri Regev wrote on Twitter.

“Do you even understand the potential damage that you’ve caused to this hero of Israel?” Likud MK Galit Distel Atbaryan wrote. “And remind me, when exactly did you apologize? Why does he need to apologize on your behalf? Why him?”

Likud MK Shlomo Karhi issued a statement that referred to Pollard’s endorsement of Shaked as “going to spy for those who betrayed you. Those who betray and abandon you will do so again. And those who’ve deceived you will deceive you again. There is nothing new under the sun.”

But facing criticism for seeming to attack Pollard, Karhi later deleted the tweet and offered an apology, shifting his criticism to Shaked.

“I have a lot of respect for Jonathan Pollard and his devotion to the people of Israel. We’ve known Shaked for years, there’s no need to say the truth about her. But my post made it sound like I was criticizing Pollard, which I did not mean to do. I have removed the post,” he clarified.

Several parties had attempted to woo Pollard for an endorsement ahead of elections.

The leader of the far-right party, Itamar Ben Gvir, tried to recruit Pollard earlier this month.

The former spy turned down the offer, however, saying his place was not in the Knesset. “I think I’ve already suffered enough,” he said.

Last week, Pollard also turned down an offer to join the far-right Religious Zionism party, headed by Bezalel Smotrich, which has since announced a joint run with Otzma Yehudit.