Since Jonathan Pollard was released from prison and made aliyah to Israel, he has been channeling Biblical powers.

Most recently, the man who spied for Israel visited the site of the altar set up by the Biblical spy, Joshua ben Nun.

POLLARD AT MOUNT EBAL

During Chol Hamoed (the intermediary days) of Pesach, Pollard, who now lives in Jerusalem, toured the Biblical heartland in Samaria. Accompanied by the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, Pollard visited the archaeological site of the altar of Joshua on Mount Ebal.

In a  video address at the site, Pollard said, “It is a great privilege and honor for me to be here on Har Eval (MountEbal) on this particular day, to commemorate the unity of our country when the shvatim (tribes) were brought together as one nation under Torah. I can only ask that the government that we have right now will recognize this site as a national treasure and that they should declare sovereignty over this area, as far and as wide as necessary, and declare the appropriate day yom yeshua (the day of salvation) to commemorate the crossing of the Yarden [River] by one of our greatest generals and leaders; Yehoshua ben Nun. This is an incredibly important place for our people because it’s not just signifying the unity of our people and everything coming together under the Torah. But it also represents an example, a clear historical example of our absolute right to this land that was given to us by hakodesh Baruch hoo (the Holy One, blessed be He).”

“I can only ask that a real Jewish government go ahead and declare sovereignty over this entire area and to recognize the accomplishments of our ancestor, Yehoshua ben Nun,” Pollard concluded.

After the visit, Dagan said, “It is an honor for Samaria to host Pollard; we waited for years to see him here with us. Pollard’s love for the people and the land is tremendous, and you can see it in every meeting with him. I hope Pollard’s call on the government to recognize this important place as a heritage site and as a place of importance will soon be realized. This is a historic place of great importance, and we hope that it will soon receive such a status.”

In the 1980s, Adam Zertal excavated the site, discovering the remains of an altar dating to the early Iron Age, approximately the 13th Century BCE. He concluded that the site was the Biblical altar erected by Joshua when entering Israel.

Upon crossing the Yarden, you shall set up these stones, about which I charge you this day, on HarEival, and coat them with plaster. There, too, you shall build a mizbayach to Hashem your God, a mizbayach of stones. Do not wield an iron tool over them; Deuteronomy 27:4-5

UNUSUALLY HARSH TREATMENT FOR THE JEWISH SPY

Pollard was released in December 2020 after serving an unprecedented 30 years for transferring sensitive US Defense Department information to Israel. 

In April,  dedicated a Torah scroll at the Tomb of Joseph in Shechem (Nablus).

Last year, Pollard identified the Biden administration as the nation of Amalek, the perennial evil enemy of Israel, and the Muslim Waqf as the “ideological descendants of the Nazis.”

Pollard worked as an analyst for the US Navy in 1985 when he was caught transferring classified information. He pled guilty, but the judge chose to sentence him to life in prison; Pollard is the only American who has received a life sentence for passing classified information to an ally of the US. 

It was later revealed that at least some of the accusations against Pollard could be traced to Aldrich Ames, a CIA agent who, as a double agent working for the Russian KGB, was convicted in 1994. At the time of his arrest, Ames had compromised more highly classified CIA assets than any other officer in history. Ames allegedly caused a shift to “blame Mr. Pollard for exposing the American agents to clear himself of suspicion.” The same source “said that Mr. Pollard never exposed American agents in the Soviet Union or elsewhere.”

Pollard was released from prison on November 20, 2015. Last month, the Justice Department decided to let the parole term’s five-year travel ban go unrenewed as a parting gift to Israel by the Trump administration.

Pollard declared that he committed espionage only because “the American intelligence establishment collectively endangered Israel’s security by withholding crucial information.”  Over the course of his imprisonment, Israel made repeated unsuccessful attempts through both official and unofficial channels to secure his release. He was granted Israeli citizenship in 1995.

“JOSEPH OF OUR GENERATION”

During his imprisonment, Pollard developed relationships with several well-known religious figures. One of these leaders was the late Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, the Chief Sephardi Rabbi of Israel, who was very close to Pollard and always referred to him as “Joseph the Tzaddik (righteous) of our generation.” One obvious reason for this reference is due to his belief that Pollard’s imprisonment sentence was unjust, similar to the imprisonment of the Biblical Joseph. However, his reason for referring to Pollard in this manner goes much deeper.

Rabbi Eliyahu requested that Pollard add the letter “hay” (ה) to his Hebrew name, changing it from “Yonatan” (יונתן) to “Yehonatan” (יהונתן). In Jewish tradition, changing a name is a significant act that can alter a person’s fate. 

Interestingly, Biden, who has publicly rejected his given Biblically-sourced name of Joseph in favor of the oddly informal ‘Joe,’ blocked an attempt to pardon Pollard, who clearly identifies with Biblical Joseph. The New York Times reported in 2012 that Biden bragged that he had personally convinced President Obama to reject a plea to release Pollard.