Convicted U.S. spyPollard arrives, welcomed by PM

JERUSALEM » Jonathan Pollard, whospent30years inU.S. prison for spying for Israel, arrived in Israel earlyWednesday with his wife, triumphantly kissing the ground as he disembarked from the aircraft in the culmination of a decades-long affair thathad long strained relations between the two close allies.

“We are ecstatic to be home at last after 35 years,” Pollard said as he was greeted at Israel’s international airport by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli leader jubilantly presented Pollard and his wife Esther with Israeli ID cards, granting them citizenship.

“You’re home,” Netanyahu said, reciting a Hebrew blessing of thanks. “Whatamoment. What a moment.”