Jonathan Pollard, Cold War Spy Who Spent 30 Years In U.S. Prison, Arrives In Israel

Jonathan Pollard, the former U.S. Navy analyst who spent three decades in prison after pleading guilty to spying for the Israelis, has arrived in Israel a month after the U.S. Justice Department declined to extend his parole.

Pollard and his wife, Esther, landed early Wednesday at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv aboard a private jet owned by Sheldon Adelson, a major backer of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The couple stepped off the plane, got on their knees, and kissed the tarmac — a religious Jewish custom upon arrival to the Holy Land. Netanyahu met the Pollards at the airport, greeting them with the Jewish blessing Sheheckhiyanu, praising God for the milestone, and another blessing praising God for freeing the imprisoned.

Esther — who is reportedly undergoing chemotherapy for cancer — is seeking medical treatment in Israel, but the couple reportedly plans to permanently emigrate to there.

"Finally in the country. Jonathan Pollard landed tonight in Israel," read a headline in Israel Hayom showing a picture of Pollard and his wife, wearing masks, as they arrived from Newark, N.J.