US ambassador hosted man who spied for Israel

Mike Huckabee, the US Ambassador to Israel, reportedly hosted the convicted spy Jonathan Pollard at the US Embassy in Jerusalem, according to the Middle East Eye via The New York Times on November 20th.

Pollard, a US Citizen, had passed along hundreds of classified documents and over 1,000 intelligence cables to Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad.

In 1987, he was sentenced to life in prison for espionage that occurred between 1984 and 1985, with the trial marking him as a traitor during the Cold War.

Pollard was released on parole in 2015. While incarcerated, he received Israeli citizenship and received a hero’s welcome upon his emigration to Israel.

Arriving in Israel, Pollard was greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told the convicted spy, “You’re home.”

Prior to his arrival in Israel, then-President Reuben Rivlin stated, “Over the years, we have shared in Jonathan Pollard’s pain and felt a responsibility and commitment to bring about his release. Now we will be able to welcome him and his family home.”

The July visit by Pollard to the US Embassy was excluded from Huckabee’s official schedule and reportedly “alarmed” the CIA’s station chief in Israel.

Like Pollard, Huckabee is a staunch supporter of Israel, who was selected for the role by then-President-elect Donald Trump in November 2024, with Trump saying: “He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!”

Huckabee featured in a music video singing a song that advocated for a “Greater Israel” where Israel’s border would expand to encompass the Occupied Palestinian territories, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, and parts of Syria and Jordan.

Huckabee seems to have endorsed the expansion of settlements across the Occupied West Bank, stating that “It is not a violation of international law for Israelis to live in Judea and Samaria.”

Furthermore, the former Arkansas governor has denied the existence of Palestinians, which echoes a 1969 statement by Israel’s then-Prime Minister Golda Meir, who claimed, “There were no such thing as Palestinians.”

On June 12th, Huckabee reportedly proposed making a Palestinian territory out of Muslim states, because they have “644 times the amount of land” than what Israel has.

It is unclear why Pollard visited the US Embassy in July, although Huckabee’s chief advisor at the embassy, David Milstein, was also present at the meeting.

Middle East Eye via agencies, The New York Times, Al Jazeera, Maghrebi.org