As U.S.-brokered ceasefires stop the fighting in Lebanon and cool tensions with Iran, convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard is openly urging Israel to threaten nuclear weapons against America itself.
In recent interviews, Pollard — the former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst who spent decades in American prison for selling secrets to Israel — argued that Israel should have rejected the latest U.S.-brokered ceasefires and instead threatened “unconventional weapons” to force continued arms shipments and military freedom of action.
Pollard explicitly pointed to Israel’s nuclear threats against the U.S. during the 1973 Yom Kippur War as the model Israel must follow again.
Pollard recounted how, in October 1973, U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger halted arms resupply mid-war to extract concessions from Israel. In response, Israel parked an A-4 Skyhawk fighter jet loaded with “unconventional weapons” under its wings at Tel Nof Airbase — in plain view of American intelligence — and essentially told Washington to take a look.
Weapons shipments resumed the next day. Pollard stated that Israel should repeat the tactic today rather than accept what he called U.S.-imposed limits on its operations against Iranian-backed forces.
The comments come amid fresh U.S.-backed truces that have blunted Israel’s ability to press for a wider regional confrontation. On April 16, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day U.S.-brokered “cessation of hostilities” targeting fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah, effective at 5 p.m. Eastern time.
The deal, announced by President Donald Trump, aims to create space for longer-term negotiations while Israeli forces remain in parts of southern Lebanon.
It is widely seen as a stepping stone toward broader U.S.-Iran de-escalation talks, following weeks of direct and proxy warfare that risked spiraling into full-scale multi-front conflict involving Tehran.
Israeli hardliners and figures like Pollard view these American-led pauses as direct interference that prevents Israel from achieving decisive victories against Hamas, Hezbollah, and ultimately Iran itself — ambitions many analysts say would have required sustained, large-scale operations across multiple theaters.
Instead, the ceasefires have forced Israel into a defensive posture reliant on U.S. weapons and diplomatic cover, even as Pollard and others argue Jerusalem should leverage its ultimate deterrent to break free of Washington’s restraint.
The remarks have ignited fierce backlash in the United States. A man convicted in 1987 of espionage — passing over 800 highly classified documents to Israel, some of which reportedly aided Soviet interests — is now publicly advocating nuclear blackmail against the country that imprisoned him.
Critics ask pointedly: how does a convicted spy openly calling for Israel to threaten America with nukes square with the narrative of Israel as Washington’s “greatest ally”?