Jonathan Pollard Delivers Pre-Passover Message Urging Strength and Faith in Hashem as Keys to Redemption
In a powerful and emotionally charged pre-Passover message, Jonathan Pollard — the former American intelligence analyst who spent three decades in prison for passing classified information to Israel — drew a stirring connection between the ancient redemption of the Jewish people from Egypt and the present-day plight of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
In a video message addressed to Klal Yisroel, Pollard reminded the global Jewish community that it was not diplomacy or appeasement, but unwavering faith in Hashem and courageous strength, that ultimately led to the miraculous liberation of Bnei Yisroel from Pharaonic tyranny thousands of years ago. With Passover approaching, Pollard urged Jews everywhere to reflect on that eternal truth — especially in the context of today’s painful and unresolved hostage crisis.
“It took nothing less than the Ten Plagues to break Pharaoh’s will,” Pollard emphasized. “Not negotiations, not compromise. It was only when Hashem demonstrated His absolute power that Pharaoh was compelled to let us go.”
Pollard’s message, delivered just days before Pesach, directly linked the story of Yetziat Mitzrayim (the Exodus from Egypt) to the ongoing captivity of Israeli hostages — men, women, and children still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza following the October 7th attacks and subsequent war. He asserted that just as Israel was redeemed through divine justice and unshakable trust in Hashem, so too will the current crisis be resolved not through appeasement or weak-kneed diplomacy, but through national strength, spiritual resolve, and total reliance on God.
“When you sit down to your seder this year,” Pollard urged, “remember those still in bondage today. Know that it is only strength and emunah [faith] in Hashem that will lead to their freedom.”
In a pointed rebuke of what he sees as flawed diplomatic approaches to dealing with terror, Pollard highlighted that the Jewish people never negotiated with Pharaoh from a place of weakness — and should not do so with Hamas.
“We never accepted Pharaoh’s terms,” he said. “Moshe Rabbeinu didn’t compromise. We stood tall and declared our demand with clarity — let my people go. We must do the same today. With Hamas, there is no room for capitulation. No room for moral confusion. Strength and clarity of purpose are what we must bring to this struggle.”
Pollard’s statement, rich in Biblical reference and nationalist resolve, was not only a message of solidarity with the families of hostages but also a call to the broader Jewish world to reaffirm its faith and moral courage in a time of crisis.
For Pollard — whose own decades-long imprisonment became a symbol of perseverance for many in the Jewish world — the Passover season is more than a remembrance. It is a summons to moral clarity, a reminder that Jewish redemption is never handed down from tyrants or terrorists, but must be demanded with strength and secured through divine guidance.
His message resonates deeply in a year when the themes of bondage, freedom, and divine justice carry fresh urgency for Am Yisroel. As families across the Jewish world prepare to recount the story of Exodus at their seders, Pollard’s words serve as both reminder and charge:
This year, as we recount the suffering and redemption of our ancestors, we must remember those still in captivity — and resolve, with strength and faith, that their redemption too will come speedily and miraculously, b’ezrat Hashem.
