The White House said it did not have prior knowledge of a July meeting between U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Jonathan Pollard at the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. The encounter reportedly was not on Huckabee's official schedule and intelligence officials say they were not notified. Pollard—convicted in 1987 of passing classified material to Israel and paroled in 2015—says he requested the meeting to thank Huckabee and accused a CIA source of leaking details to discredit the ambassador.
White House Says It Had No Prior Knowledge of Ambassador Huckabee’s Meeting with Jonathan Pollard
The White House said it did not have prior knowledge of a July meeting between U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Jonathan Pollard at the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. The encounter reportedly was not on Huckabee's official schedule and intelligence officials say they were not notified. Pollard—convicted in 1987 of passing classified material to Israel and paroled in 2015—says he requested the meeting to thank Huckabee and accused a CIA source of leaking details to discredit the ambassador.
11:25 AM, 11/21/2025Security
The White House said it was unaware that U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met earlier this year with Jonathan Pollard at the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters that, while the administration had not been informed in advance, "the president stands by our ambassador, Mike Huckabee, and all that he is doing for the United States and Israel."
The meeting reportedly occurred in July and was not listed on the ambassador’s official schedule. Unnamed U.S. officials said intelligence agencies were not notified beforehand and were alarmed by the encounter, which they viewed as a breach of long-standing practice that U.S. officials avoid meetings with convicted spies.
Background: Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, was convicted in 1987 of passing thousands of highly classified documents to Israel in exchange for cash and gifts. He received a life sentence—the harshest penalty imposed for espionage on behalf of an ally—served about 30 years, was paroled in 2015 and later relocated to Israel in 2020. The case severely strained relations between Washington and Jerusalem and remains one of the most consequential breaches of classified information in recent U.S. history.
Pollard told Israeli media that he requested the meeting to express personal gratitude to Huckabee for efforts on his behalf during his imprisonment. "I had originally requested the interview for a very personal reason," he said. "I wanted to express my sincere appreciation for all the efforts that he [Huckabee] had expended on my behalf when I was in prison."
Pollard accused someone at the CIA station in the U.S. embassy of leaking details of the encounter to the media in an "effort to discredit" the ambassador and to have him removed from the post. He suggested those responsible were "anti-Israel elements within the Trump administration."
It is unclear whether Huckabee sought formal approval from the administration before the meeting. Sources described U.S. intelligence officials as "alarmed" by the revelation, emphasizing that informal or undisclosed contacts with convicted spies run counter to established diplomatic and intelligence protocols.
Huckabee, a vocal supporter of Israel who previously advocated for Pollard’s release during his 2011 presidential campaign, has not indicated he sought administration clearance for the meeting. Pollard also used his interview to criticize figures involved in Middle East diplomacy, naming Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff and accusing them of willingness to engage with individuals he described as responsible for the October 7 attacks.
The episode raises questions about coordination between embassy personnel, political appointees and intelligence officials, and whether any formal reviews or changes in protocol will follow.