{"id":2877,"date":"2025-11-21T09:56:01","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T09:56:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=2877"},"modified":"2025-11-21T09:56:01","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T09:56:01","slug":"white-house-unaware-that-us-ambassador-to-israel-met-with-convicted-spy-politics-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=2877","title":{"rendered":"White House unaware that US ambassador to Israel met with convicted spy | Politics News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>CIA reportedly \u2018alarmed\u2019 by the meeting, which broke a longstanding policy of not speaking with convicted spies.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 21 Nov 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">21 Nov 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>The White House has said it was unaware that a meeting took place earlier this year between United States ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Jonathan Pollard, a former US Navy officer who was convicted of spying for Israel and jailed for decades.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to reporters on Thursday, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that while the Trump administration had no advance knowledge of the meeting, \u201cthe president stands by our ambassador, Mike Huckabee, and all that he is doing for the United States and Israel\u201d.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Huckabee met Pollard in July at the US embassy in Jerusalem, The New York Times revealed on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>The meeting was reportedly not on Huckabee\u2019s official schedule and took place without the knowledge of US intelligence agencies, The Times reported, quoting two unnamed US officials.<\/p>\n<p>Former US Navy intelligence analyst Pollard was tried and convicted in 1987 for passing thousands of highly classified US materials to Israel in exchange for cash and gifts. He was sentenced to life in prison, the harshest punishment ever given to someone for spying for an ally.<\/p>\n<p>Pollard served 30 years before being paroled in 2015 and moving to Israel in 2020. He is regarded by some in Israel as a hero.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4120980\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4120980\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4120980\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AP11081705737-1763704400.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C520&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Israelis hold posters of Jonathan Pollard, who was convicted of spying for Israel during a protest calling for his release during a meeting Israel's President Shimon Peres and a delegation of 35 Republican congressmen, outside the president's residence in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2011. (AP Photo\/Sebastian Scheiner)\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4120980\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Israelis hold posters of Jonathan Pollard, who was convicted of spying for Israel, during a protest calling for his release, in Jerusalem, in 2011 [Sebastian Scheiner\/AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The case badly strained US-Israel relations at the time and is still seen as one of the most damaging breaches of classified information in US history.<\/p>\n<p>In a televised interview with Israel\u2019s i24 News outlet on Thursday, Pollard said the meeting with Huckabee had taken place at his request.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had originally requested the interview for a very personal reason,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to express my sincere appreciation for all the efforts that he [Huckabee] had expended on my behalf when I was in prison,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Pollard said that he believed someone within the CIA stationed at the US embassy in Israel leaked information about the meeting to the media in an \u201ceffort to discredit\u201d the ambassador and \u201chave him removed\u201d from his post.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the people behind this are anti-Israel elements within the Trump administration,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>It remains unclear whether Huckabee sought Trump administration approval before meeting with Pollard. But the CIA were \u201calarmed\u201d by news of the meeting, according to sources who spoke to The Times, as it was a breach of longstanding practice among US officials not to speak with convicted spies.<\/p>\n<p>Huckabee, a staunch Israel supporter and political ally of President Donald Trump, previously advocated for Pollard\u2019s release while running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2011.<\/p>\n<p>In his interview with i24 News, Pollard slammed members of the Trump administration, criticising special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who have taken leading roles in peace talks to end Israel\u2019s war on Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI despise Witkoff and Kushner, they were willing to meet with terrorists who massacred us on October 7 [2023],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CIA reportedly \u2018alarmed\u2019 by the meeting, which broke a longstanding policy of not speaking with convicted spies. Published On 21 Nov 202521 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share The White House has said it was unaware that a meeting took place earlier this year between United States ambassador to Israel [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}