"Jonathan Pollard, the convicted spy for Israel whose story haunted the American Jewish community’s relations with the U.S. government for decades, is unrepentant.

“The bottom line on this charge of dual loyalty is, I’m sorry, we’re Jews, and if we’re Jews, we will always have dual loyalty,” Pollard said in an interview published Thursday in Israel Hayom, his first extensive remarks since his release from prison in 2015.

Pollard recalled how much of the Jewish leadership did not stand up for him following his 1985 arrest, when he was a civilian analyst for the U.S. Navy who was found to be spying for Israel.

“If you’re outside Israel, then you live in a society in which you are basically considered unreliable,” he said.

The U.S. Jewish leadership eventually softened in its outlook, and some Jewish leaders lobbied for Pollard’s release, saying his life sentence was excessive."