Jonathan deserves deep and eternal gratitude on the part of Israel, as well as grief over the delay in his release and return home • Opinion
Jonathan Pollard and his wife Esther on their way to Israel
Photography:
Jonathan Pollard and his wife Esther on their way to Israel // Special photo for "Israel Today"
Jonathan Pollard, our man, is finally coming home today.
And like many returns home, this day will be both happy and sad.
This day has been very late - even decades.
Jonathan's imprisonment, and then his release on conditions that did not allow him to leave New York, continued in a heartbreaking way.
While his spirit did not fall, and his Jewish pride was not forgotten - his body weakened.
In the time now, after a long wait, he can build a faithful home in Israel with his beloved Esther - her loose health will overshadow everything.
She needs to fly under strict medical conditions, and a roller coaster is still ready for them until, with the help of the name, she will be strengthened and healed.
This day will be half happy also because on the side of the great happiness of welcoming Jonathan, we will remember the stain that his actions in the service of the State of Israel caused its relations with the United States.
Israel has never undermined its closest ally, except to save the Jewish people.
Israel has learned lessons, and the fact that Jonathan's case did not repeat itself testifies to that.
But the fact that this is an isolated case, is also what highlights it.
After all, in every other aspect, the Israeli-American connection is deeply ingrained in friendship and unconditional mutual trust.
For our American friends, Jonathan is a good memory that will remain vague.
Especially at a time when President Donald Trump is doing kindness after kindness for the Jews in Zion.
Jonathan deserves deep and eternal gratitude on the part of Israel.
Like a wounded soldier returning from a long and difficult journey, he deserves every benefit and grant the state can offer, to ensure he spends his next years comfortably and comfortably.
At the same time, he deserves the right to live in a country that treats its ally with respect and wisdom.
A country where sensitive matters are kept secret, and whose protagonists are modest.
Jonathan is a hero of this kind: quiet, settled in his mind, sure that his place in Jewish history does not need public relations.
Let us honor him with the same coin - quietly, with a huge sigh of relief, with tears of remorse, and with a long, soft, grateful hug.