Mike Huckabee Held ‘Friendly’ Embassy Meeting With Convicted Israeli Spy

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee reportedly held a quiet, off-the-books meeting in July with convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard at the American Embassy in Jerusalem.

The off-the-books meeting startled officials in Washington and inside the U.S. intelligence community, who viewed the encounter as an extraordinary breach of long-standing boundaries, The New York Times reported. According to three U.S. officials familiar with the matter, the CIA station chief in Israel raised alarm after learning Huckabee and his senior adviser David Milstein brought Pollard into a secure American facility for what Pollard described as a “friendly” conversation.

Pollard told the NYT it was the first time in 10 years that any U.S. official had hosted him inside an American government office. He confirmed the meeting only after the newspaper approached him.

“It was a friendly meeting,” Pollard told the NYT in a phone interview Wednesday.

The White House was not notified in advance, according to one senior official and two people briefed on the meeting. Those officials said West Wing aides reacted with shock when they learned Huckabee invited one of the most infamous spies of the Cold War into the embassy. The State Department did not say whether anyone approved the meeting. (Read more from “Mike Huckabee Held ‘Friendly’ Embassy Meeting With Convicted Israeli Spy” HERE)