US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met with Jonathan Pollard at the US Embassy in Jerusalem in July, the New York Times reported on Thursday.

Three anonymous US officials told the Times about the meeting, and Pollard confirmed that the meeting took place.

“It was a friendly meeting,” Mr. Pollard said in a phone interview on Wednesday, adding that it was his first meeting at a US government office since his release from prison ten years ago.

Two of the sources told The Times that the meeting was not listed on Huckabee’s official schedule.

A White House source said Washington was also caught off guard and had not known about the meeting in advance. The C.I.A. and the State Department declined to comment.

It is unclear whether the US State Department approved Huckabee’s meeting with Pollard beforehand. A statement from the US Embassy in Israel said that Mr. Huckabee had “meetings with numerous people, and as a matter of general policy, we do not comment as to the content of conversations.”

In his interview with The Times, Mr. Pollard said he thanked Mr. Huckabee for his efforts in support of his release.

Mr. Pollard also said there were “a lot of things that came up in conversation” with the ambassador but did not share further details.

Pollard recently said that he plans to run for Knesset.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)