Huckabee’s secret meeting with US spy Pollard sparks CIA concern
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The White House says it was unaware of US envoy Mike Huckabee’s meeting with Jonathan Pollard, raising CIA concerns over US-“Israel” relations.
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Convicted spy Jonathan Pollard leaves a federal courthouse in New York Friday, Nov. 20, 2015 (AP)
The White House did not know about a meeting between US Ambassador to "Israel" Mike Huckabee and Jonathan Pollard, the former US Navy analyst who spent 30 years in prison for spying for "Israel", said spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt on Thursday without offering further details about how the meeting occurred.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that Huckabee met Pollard in July at the US Embassy in occupied al-Quds and that the unlisted meeting caught US officials by surprise as it did not appear on the ambassador’s official schedule.
Leavitt told reporters that while the administration had not been informed of the meeting beforehand, “the president stands by our ambassador, Mike Huckabee, and all that he is doing for the United States and Israel.”
Pollard stated that the meeting with Huckabee happened at his request, telling Israeli channel i24NEWS, “I had originally requested the interview for a very personal reason,” and adding, “I wanted to express my sincere appreciation for all the efforts that he had expended on my behalf when I was in prison." Huckabee had publicly supported Pollard’s release while seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 2011.
The case of Jonathan Pollard
Pollard was convicted in 1987 and given a life sentence, the toughest penalty ever imposed for spying on behalf of a US ally, after passing highly classified American information to "Israel". He served 30 years before his 2015 parole and relocated to "Israel" in 2020.
His case strained US-"Israel" relations, with many in the American intelligence community still viewing it as one of the most serious compromises of classified material in US history.
According to the Times, the meeting “alarmed” the CIA and represented a departure from the long-standing avoidance of contact between US officials and convicted spies, and it remained unclear whether Huckabee sought approval from the administration, prompting concerns that the encounter might indicate a softer US approach toward espionage by allies.
Huckabee, a strong supporter of "Israel" and a political ally of President Donald Trump, has built close relationships with Israeli leaders as the administration expands its diplomatic and security cooperation.
