Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard suggests Egypt and Turkey are next targets for war

Israeli-American says 'I'm not so sure that we will have as easy a time with the Turks as we've had with the Iranians'

By MEE staff

Published date: 28 May 2026 

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-spy-jonathan-pollard-suggests-egypt-and-turkey-next-targets-israel

Israeli-American spy Jonathan Pollard has suggested Israel may attack Egypt and Turkey in the near future.

Speaking on a podcast for news outlet Arutz Sheva, Pollard suggested Israel would need to prepare for further wars in the Middle East after Iran.

"I'm not so sure that we will have as easy a time with the Turks as we've had with the Iranians," he said.

"We have to be prepared for the next war, which will probably be against Turkey and Egypt. The storm is coming."

He also warned against Israel allowing the Turkish-backed transitional government in Syria to reclaim areas in the south that are occupied by Israeli forces, saying it would effectively leave them with the "Turks on our border".

Pollard spent 30 years in prison for selling US secrets to Israel in 1984, and left the US for Israel after his release in 2015.

Since moving to Israel and acquiring citizenship, Pollard has been a supporter and friend of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and has backed calls for the ethnic cleansing of occupied Palestine.

Both Egypt and Turkey have enjoyed cordial relations with Israel for decades, but these have become increasingly strained in recent years over the genocide in Gaza.

Turkey was the first Muslim-majority country to recognise the State of Israel in 1949, and the two countries have maintained solid security and trade ties throughout most of their modern history.

However, since the 2010 attack on the Mavi Marmara flotilla, when Israeli forces raided a Turkish ship delivering aid to Gaza and killed 10 of those on board, tensions have been strained and Ankara has increasingly hit out at Israel's treatment of Palestinians.

The most recent attempt to restore relations in September 2023 – which saw Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting and shaking hands for the first time, in New York – collapsed the following month after the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on Israel and the subsequent genocide in Gaza.

Since then, the rhetoric from politicians in both countries has escalated, with former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in March describing Turkey as potentially the "next Iran".

Egypt, for its part, has maintained relations and a peace treaty with Israel since 1979, following a series of wars between the two countries.

Pollard told the podcast that he "hoped" Israel would not be going to war with Egypt or Turkey, but warned that "hope was the last demon out of Pandora's Box".