U.S. Ambassador Huckabee Meets Pollard at Jerusalem Embassy

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met privately with Jonathan Pollard, a former Navy intelligence analyst convicted of spying for Israel, in July at the American Embassy in Jerusalem, according to multiple officials and Pollard himself. The encounter, which was not listed on Huckabee's public schedule, occurred without prior knowledge of the White House and drew concern from the CIA station in Israel, sources familiar with the matter said.

The meeting lasted about an hour and included Huckabee's senior adviser, David Milstein, Pollard told reporters in interviews following the disclosure. Pollard, now 71, said he requested the session to express gratitude for Huckabee's earlier efforts advocating for his release during Huckabee's 2011 presidential campaign. "I wanted to express my sincere appreciation for all the efforts that he had expended on my behalf when I was in prison," Pollard said in a televised interview with i24 News.

Pollard was arrested in 1985 and convicted in 1987 of passing thousands of classified U.S. documents to Israel in one of the most significant espionage cases involving an ally. He received a life sentence, the maximum for such an offense, after...