Israeli Mossad official is sent packing
ISRAELI spy agency Mossad's station chief in Australia has been expelled after a comprehensive investigation confirmed that Israel equipped a team of assassins with forged passports of Australians and other foreigners.Announcing the expulsion in parliament yesterday, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith accused Israel of identity theft in connection with the assassination in Dubai in January of a leading Hamas official.
Mr Smith said the government's decision followed an exhaustive three-month investigation by the Australian Federal Police and spy agencies and a visit to Israel by Australian Security Intelligence Organisation director-general David Irvine.
He said he expected relations with Israel would cool for a time.
The government's action comes two months after Britain expelled an Israeli diplomat believed to be Mossad's London station chief over the use of 12 forged British passports in the hit on Mahmoud al-Mabhouh on January 20, which bore the hallmarks of a Mossad operation.
The Rudd government informed the US and Britain of its decision to expel the diplomat from the embassy in Canberra before yesterday's public announcement, Mr Smith said. The Australian ambassador in Tel Aviv, Andrea Faulkner, was expected to inform the Israeli government of Canberra's finding.
Israel's use of four forged Australian passports - supposedly belonging to Nicole McCabe, Joshua Bruce, Adam Korman and Joshua Krycer - was not the action of a friend, Mr Smith said. "The high quality of these counterfeited passports points to the involvement of a state intelligence service," the Foreign Minister said.
"These investigations and advice have left the government in no doubt that Israel was responsible for the abuse and counterfeiting of these passports."
Last night, Israel was clearly disappointed with Australia's decision but sought to keep its official response contained.
A spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, Yigal Palmor, told The Australian: "We regret the Australian decision, which is not in line with the quality and the importance of our relationship."
While Israel had expected that Australia might follow Britain's decision, when nothing occurred Tel Aviv began to think Australia would not take any action.
On January 20, Mabhouh was found murdered in his Dubai hotel.
In an apparent slip, his assailants were caught on hotel security cameras as they tracked and closed in on the Palestinian militant.
Dubai police were quick to blame Mossad, alleging Mabhouh was drugged with a fast-acting muscle relaxant and suffocated with a pillow. They gave the names of the alleged hit team, saying forged British, Irish, French and German passports were also used.
Earlier yesterday, Dor Shapira, the Israeli charge d'affaires, was summoned by DFAT and informed of the government's "deep disappointment" over the Israeli involvement in the passport affair.
Normally the head of mission would have been summoned, but ambassador Yuval Rotem was absent and not expected to return to duty until June 8.
Other key personnel listed on the embassy's website are deputy chief of mission Eli Yerushalmi and Nevo Barchad, consul and administration officer. Mr Shapira confirmed he was leaving to return home in six weeks.
One senior DFAT official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the alleged Mossad agent who was expelled might have already left the country.
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said the decision to kick out the diplomat over the passports affair was a calculated political decision to appease Kevin Rudd.
"The government is facing an election," Ms Bishop told Sky TV. "The government is also seeking to pursue a seat on the (UN) Security Council; the government is keen to curry favour within the Arab community.
"The Arab community have made it quite clear to Mr Rudd in writing that unless the Australian government showed a more negative attitude towards Israel, they would not be able to count on their vote for Mr Rudd's quest for a seat on the Security Council."
As reported in The Australian in February, it was an open secret in Canberra's Middle Eastern community that Israeli agents were trying to obtain clean passports from Australia and New Zealand to be used by Mossad.
In July 2004, New Zealand imposed diplomatic sanctions on Israel over an incident in which two Israeli citizens, living in Sydney, attempted to fraudulently obtain New Zealand passports by claiming the identity of a disabled man.
No comments:
Post a Comment