Esther Pollard, the wife of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, died Sunday night from septic shock caused by COVID-19. Pollard had been battling breast cancer and contracted COVID-19 two weeks ago. She was rushed to Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital’s COVID-19 intensive care unit on Saturday and died with her husband at her side.
Born in Toronto as Elaine Zeitz, she first met Jonathan Pollard on a trip to Israel when they were teenagers. Jonathan pleaded guilty in an American court in 1986 of providing Israel with classified information and was sentenced to life in prison; his first wife Anne, who assisted him, pleaded guilty to lesser charges, and was given a five-year sentence. After Anne’s release, she and Jonathan divorced. Zeitz, who led a high-profile campaign for Pollard’s release, married him in 1993. He was released from prison in November 2015 and the couple was allowed to move to Israel when Pollard’s parole restrictions ended in December 2020.