Israeli diplomat expelled by Australia
alivegirl
Posts: 124
http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories/ar ... ?id=465527
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has told parliament Israel was responsible for faking four Australian passports used in the killing of a senior Hamas official.
'Investigations and advice have left the government in no doubt Israel was responsible for the abuse and counterfeiting of these passports,' he said on Monday.
Mr Smith has asked that a member of the Israeli Embassy in Canberra be withdrawn from Australia within the week, as a result of the scandal.
'This is not what we expect from a nation with whom we have had such a close, friendly and supportive relationship,' he said.
Mr Smith said there was no evidence the passport holders were anything but innocent victims.
'The high quality of these counterfeited passports points to the involvement of a state intelligence service,' he said.
Hamas official Mahmud al-Mabhuh was assassinated in Dubai in January.
The Israeli embassy was not immediately available for comment.
Mr Smith said it was not the first time that Australian passports had been misused by Israeli authorities.
'The Dubai passports incident also constitutes a clear and direct breach of confidential undertakings between Australia and Israel dating back some years,' he said.
The decision was taken by the government for 'national security interests', Mr Smith said.
The abuse of the passports was inconsistent with the 'friendship and support' provided by successive Australian governments to Israel.
'Australia's relationship with Israel has always been founded on a basis of mutual respect and trust, but Israel's actions in this respect have undermined that,' he said.
Mr Smith said Australia's relationship with Israel could continue in a 'productive and beneficial' manner.
'Australia remains a firm friend of Israel, but ... our relationship must be conducted on the basis of mutual trust and respect.'
Genuine friendship ran both ways, Mr Smith said, stressing that the incident must not be repeated.
Mr Smith said the United Kingdom reached similar conclusions after its investigation into the misuse of British passports in the Dubai incident.
'No government can tolerate the abuse of its passports, especially by a foreign government,' he said.
'This represents a clear affront to the security of our passport system.'
Earlier this year, the British government announced it was kicking out an Israeli diplomat over the 'intolerable' use of fake British passports in the killing of al-Mabhuh.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has told parliament Israel was responsible for faking four Australian passports used in the killing of a senior Hamas official.
'Investigations and advice have left the government in no doubt Israel was responsible for the abuse and counterfeiting of these passports,' he said on Monday.
Mr Smith has asked that a member of the Israeli Embassy in Canberra be withdrawn from Australia within the week, as a result of the scandal.
'This is not what we expect from a nation with whom we have had such a close, friendly and supportive relationship,' he said.
Mr Smith said there was no evidence the passport holders were anything but innocent victims.
'The high quality of these counterfeited passports points to the involvement of a state intelligence service,' he said.
Hamas official Mahmud al-Mabhuh was assassinated in Dubai in January.
The Israeli embassy was not immediately available for comment.
Mr Smith said it was not the first time that Australian passports had been misused by Israeli authorities.
'The Dubai passports incident also constitutes a clear and direct breach of confidential undertakings between Australia and Israel dating back some years,' he said.
The decision was taken by the government for 'national security interests', Mr Smith said.
The abuse of the passports was inconsistent with the 'friendship and support' provided by successive Australian governments to Israel.
'Australia's relationship with Israel has always been founded on a basis of mutual respect and trust, but Israel's actions in this respect have undermined that,' he said.
Mr Smith said Australia's relationship with Israel could continue in a 'productive and beneficial' manner.
'Australia remains a firm friend of Israel, but ... our relationship must be conducted on the basis of mutual trust and respect.'
Genuine friendship ran both ways, Mr Smith said, stressing that the incident must not be repeated.
Mr Smith said the United Kingdom reached similar conclusions after its investigation into the misuse of British passports in the Dubai incident.
'No government can tolerate the abuse of its passports, especially by a foreign government,' he said.
'This represents a clear affront to the security of our passport system.'
Earlier this year, the British government announced it was kicking out an Israeli diplomat over the 'intolerable' use of fake British passports in the killing of al-Mabhuh.
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any member will do???? theyll probably just send the cleaning lady back to tel aviv.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
Now now. He's asked for the explusion of a Mossad agent(what they were doing in the country in the first place and the oppositions reaction is more concerning to me).
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/105 ... -passports
Australia to expel Israeli diplomat18:40 AEST Mon May 24 20102 hours 44 minutes ago
Relations with Israel are at a low point after Canberra ordered the expulsion of a Mossad agent in response to a wide-ranging probe that found the Jewish state was involved in the forging of Australian passports.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith admitted it was with "sorrow" Australia took such action against a long-term friend but stressed the passport fraud - part of a hit against a Hamas leader in January - was intolerable.
"This is not what we expect from a nation with whom we have had such a close, friendly and supportive relationship," he told parliament.
The investigation, involving federal police and the nation's key spy agencies, was initiated in March after it emerged Australian passports were used in the killing of senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in January.
Israel on Monday described the action as regrettable, suggesting it failed to recognise the deep and enduring ties between the two countries.
Australia has long been one of Israel's closest friends and the relationship dates back to creation of a separate Jewish state in the late 1940s.
"We feel it is not reflective of the extensive relationship between the two nations," a spokesman for the Israeli embassy in Canberra said.
Deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop, the coalition's foreign affairs spokeswoman, attacked the government for over-reacting, a sentiment echoed by former foreign minister Alexander Downer.
And she accused the government of taking the decision to try to garner Arab votes in Australia's bid for a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council.
"I am concerned this is a purely political decision," Ms Bishop told Sky News.
"There is no absolute proof that the Israeli government did it."
The expulsion may precipitate some uncomfortable conversations between Canberra and Washington when United States President Barack Obama visits Australia later this year.
The US - which received an early alert of Canberra's decision - finds itself in the difficult position of being an ally of Australia, as well as Israel's closest friend.
But Australia is not the only country to take stern action in response to the use of its passports in the murder plot.
Britain - involved in the passport scandal with France, Germany and Ireland - expelled a diplomat in March.
The government is refusing to disclose details of the expelled diplomat but the online edition of the Haaretz newspaper is reporting the official is the Mossad representative for the Israeli embassy in Canberra.
Australia admits the relationship will take time to repair following this episode.
Mr Smith acknowledged it could diminish co-operation, particularly in areas of intelligence and security.
"Clearly as a result of today's events there will be something of a cooling-off period so far as relevant agencies are concerned," he said.
He refused to put a timetable on the normalisation of relations.
"We would want very much for those cooperative relationships to proceed but there does require a rebuilding of trust and confidence."
He stressed, however, Canberra took no pleasure from the turn of events.
"This decision is made much more in sorrow than in anger," he said.
It has sparked an outcry from the Israeli community in Australia, generally a strong supporter of the Australian Labor Party.
And it could create headaches for the government in tight inner urban seats with big Jewish communities.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry warned little good would come from taking punitive action against Israel, while the Australia-Israel and Jewish Affairs Council described the move as unhelpful.
I wonder if the international community will ever grow any balls?
the perfect cover if you ask me.
very doubtful steve... but you knew that already. its that collective western guilt and the need to have 'one of us' in the middle east.
theyre saying the explusion is an over reaction from the oz govt and i say its about time... and not nearly harsh enough. but imo this expulsion really is of no consequence cause israel continues to do whatever the hell it pleases and the rest of us be damned.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
http://www.rense.com/general51/spy.htm
Hunt On For Israeli
Spy Ring In Australia
By Lincoln Wright
The Herald Sun - Australia
4-17-4
The nation's spy-catchers are investigating a suspected Israeli spy ring in Australia.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation has been investigating the suspected cell for up to a month.
Two Israeli citizens appeared in an Auckland court on Friday charged with passport fraud.
One of them, Eli Cara, claimed to be a Sydney travel agent. He has travelled to New Zealand 24 times since October 2000.
Cara, 50, and Zoshe Kelman, 30, faced three charges after being arrested in a police sting operation late last March.
Another Israeli, Zev William Barkan, 37, escaped from NZ. A fourth man is believed to be in hiding.
The men are suspected of being Mossad agents, who allegedly were gathering fake NZ passports.
Fake passports are used by intelligence bodies to help their agents travel undercover.
Mossad, the Israeli secret service, has been accused previously of illegally using Canadian passports.
A spokesman for Attorney-General Philip Ruddock confirmed yesterday that ASIO had been investigating the matter.
He said ASIO had been in touch with its NZ counterparts.
He said the two Israelis had applied for a passport using the birth certificate of a person with cerebral palsy.
NZ police staged a surveillance operation of the site where the passport was sent on March 23. The two Israelis were also staking out the site, but were then arrested.
Cara was sitting in a cafe, while Kelman was arrested walking away after throwing his mobile phone into a bush.
After the pair was released on bail, Cara denied being a Mossad agent when asked about his arrest.
Intelligence sources told the Sunday Herald Sun that the NZ arrests would have set off alarm bells at ASIO headquarters in Canberra.
If Israel had gone to the trouble of setting up a genuine business in Sydney as a front for spying, then that would be an extraordinary step, a source said.
ASIO would not be investigating the case unless they suspected the pair was undeclared spies," the source said.
Israel (as with other countries) could declare its spies to ASIO, and the security service would know who was who at the country's embassy in Canberra.
"But some countries have undeclared spies, which is seen as pretty sneaky - and snaky," another source said.
The time and expense of running a genuine business front would indicate a deep commitment to an operation in Sydney or the South Pacific.
NZ Prime Minister Helen Clark has refused to confirm whether the arrested men were Mossad agents. But she has contacted the Israeli government about the case.
In the late 1970s, Israel was rumoured to have set up a spy ring in Melbourne to keep an eye on anti-Israeli activists.
Israel's acting ambassador to NZ and Australia, Orna Sagiv, said yesterday she would not comment until the court proceedings had been completed.
"There are two Israeli citizens there before the justice system, but it's better to wait before coming to conclusions," she said.
A former Israeli Defence Force officer expressed surprise at the clumsiness of the operation, but added authorities could not be sure the charged men's names were real if they were Mossad agents.
"Israel has spies everywhere, but Mossad is usually more professional than that," the IDF officer said.
Mossad generally was quite careful about whom it sent undercover, preferring people with links to the country they were spying upon.
"The aim is to blend into the local community," the officer said. "These agents have layers and layers of false identities."
A search of Australian company and title records revealed that Cara has no listed business or property interests in NSW or Victoria.
Public information contained on the Australian Securities and Investments Commission database shows that Cara, Kelman and Barkan are not involved with listed companies or own property in the two states.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/co...255E663,00.html
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say