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Former US Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard, who spent three decades in prison for spying for Israel, has called on Israel to prepare for potential conflict with Egypt and Türkiye, describing the two countries as its next major strategic threats.

Pollard made the remarks in an interview with Israeli news channel ILTV on Sunday, as he launched his campaign for a seat in Israel’s Knesset ahead of the country’s October election.

“I hate to put it that way, but Türkiye and Egypt are coming up next as our major strategic threat,” Pollard said.

“And unless we have all these other fronts eliminated by that time, we're going to be in a terrible situation,” he added.

The remarks are notable because both Egypt and Türkiye maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, while Egypt has had a peace treaty with Israel since 1979.

Pollard nevertheless portrayed the two countries as potential future adversaries as he called for Israel to expand its military operations across the region.

Israel has carried out military operations and strikes in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Qatar, Yemen and Iran in recent years, in addition to its ongoing military campaign in Gaza.

Pollard also called for Israel to unilaterally determine Gaza’s future and advocated territorial expansion in Lebanon.

“As far as Lebanon is concerned ... I have been in favour of officially pushing our border north to the Litani River,” he said.

He further urged Israel to attack Iran without waiting for the United States to authorize or support such action.

“We have the resources, we just don't have the willingness to go ahead and take Iran off the map,” Pollard said.

Pollard’s comments come as Israel continues to rely heavily on US military assistance and diplomatic support. Washington has provided Israel with at least $23 billion in military aid since October 2023, according to estimates cited in the report.

Pollard, who was born in the United States, was arrested in 1985 after being accused of passing a large collection of classified US intelligence documents to Israel while working as a civilian intelligence analyst for the US Navy.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Pollard spent 30 years in US prison before being released in 2015. He subsequently moved to Israel and became an Israeli citizen.