Angry Prime Minister hammers Israel

[moghrabi]

Angry Prime Minister hammers Israel

16.07.2004
By CLAIRE TREVETT and BRIDGET CARTER

The Prime Minister made a scathing attack on Israel and imposed tough diplomatic sanctions after two alleged Mossad spies were jailed for passport fraud yesterday.

"The New Zealand Government views the act carried out by the Israeli intelligence agents as not only utterly unacceptable but also a breach of New Zealand sovereignty and international law," Helen Clark said.

The sanctions, including suspending all high-level visits to or from Israel, came minutes after Uriel Zoshe Kelman, 31, and Eli Cara, 51, were sentenced to prison for six months for stealing the identity of a tetraplegic man to obtain a false New Zealand passport.

Helen Clark said there were "very strong grounds" to believe the men were acting for Israel's intelligence services.

The case was revealed by the Weekend Herald in April.

Last night Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said, "We are sorry about this matter. It will be dealt with and all will be done to restore Israel's long history of good relations with New Zealand to their previous correct ties."

Mr Shalom did not address the claim that the two convicted men were linked to Israel's intelligence services.

In court both men denied having links with spy agencies, such as Mossad.

Helen Clark said: "If one were to lay espionage charges, one would have to be prepared to offer the kind of evidence in court which our intelligence agencies don't like coming forward to display.

"We have very strong grounds for believing these are Israeli intelligence agents."

The sanctions are high on the scale of diplomatic displeasure between Governments, although they avoid targeting the 6000-plus Israeli tourists who visit New Zealand each year.

All Israelis coming to New Zealand on Government business must now obtain visas, Foreign Ministry consultations with Israel have been suspended and the Government has declined an approach for Israel's head of state, President Moshe Katsav, to visit in August.

Helen Clark said the case was a "sorry indictment" on Israel, with which New Zealand had long shared friendly relations.

"We regard it as an unfriendly action by agents of the Government of Israel, aimed at undermining New Zealand's sovereignty and certainly breaching international law.

"While we regret the need for it, New Zealand has no option but to take the actions that it has in response to a deliberate breach of its sovereignty.

"This incident has seriously strained that relationship and it will remain strained for some time."

New Zealand had asked for an explanation and an apology three months ago."We look forward at some point to the Israeli Government swallowing its pride and offering the explanation and apology we have asked for."

Helen Clark ruled out any deals with the Israeli Government similar to the agreement the previous Labour Government reached with France in 1986 over the two French spies who bombed the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior.

The breach has parallels to a row in 1997 between Israel and Canada, which demanded Mossad stop using Canadian passports on covert operations.

Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff said: "One of the most damaging things that has been done to Israel is the public exposure of the actions of their intelligence agencies in violating other people's sovereignty in total contradiction of international law."

Mr Goff said the agents were working for Mossad.

"We have no doubt on our side that these were individuals who were not working simply as part of a private criminal organisation. These were people who were doing it on behalf of Israeli intelligence agencies."

The convicted men, who have spent two weeks in prison awaiting sentence, are likely to remain behind bars for a further 10 weeks before being deported.

Israel's acting ambassador in Australia, Orma Sagiv, said she hoped Israel's relationship with New Zealand would not be damaged long-term.

The affair began after a tip-off to police from Internal Affairs over an application for a New Zealand passport by an Israeli, Zev William Barkan, 37, who has now fled the country.

Barkan took the identity of a man around the same age, who had cerebral palsy, in applying for a New Zealand passport. Investigating Barkan, a covert police operation discovered Cara and Kelman near drop-off points for the couriered passport.

 

[researchok]

I'm not sure I understand the point of the post--as if this were a problem of great proportion.

I'd be angrier at what is going on in Darfur, Mairitania, Iran, Algeria, Nigeria, China, etc.

I'd be angrier at the low level of education in Arab region as noted by the UN.

I'd be angrier at the level of corruption in the PA, as noted by the Quartet, which has caused the untold misery in PA administered territory.

I'd be more upset at ongoing issues that face more people-- FGM, ongoing slavery, East Timor, Libya, etc

And the list goes on.

 

[moghrabi]

This was an article about espionage. that's all. I am not angry.

You seem to target the middle eastern countries and not mentioning education in Africa, China, South east asia and even in the USA.

About Libya, I would like you to prove to me that they use slavery. They have the highest level of education as was in Iraq before 1990.

What is going on Iran. Are you angry because they are rebuffing the atomic energy watch and saying have Israel clean up its act first?

Anyways this article is interesting because it happened to Canada in the past by mossad.

 

[researchok]

I 'target' a certain region, as you put it, because you too, seem to target a particular country.

The espionage issue per se is not news-- a few years, German were caught 'spying' here in the US, as were Brits caught in France, etc., etc. This really isn't news.

As for Iran, well, the issue of nuclear weapons is different for Iran. They are the only contry in the region that has actually threatened to use them. In a speech given by Ali Hashemi Rafsanjani, for resident of Iran, he declared that Iran should develop and emply nuclear weapons. At an 'Al-Quds Day sermon on December 14, 2001 at Tehran University, which was attended by thousands of worshippers. In the sermon, he addressed solving the problem of Israel with nuclear weapons.'

He went on to say, "...because the use of a nuclear bomb in Israel will leave nothing on the ground, whereas it will only damage the world of Islam."

The quote, article and other translations from the regions media can be found here: http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=countries&Area=iran&ID=SP32502

If that isn't reason enough to be wary of the lunatic mullahs, I don't know what else is.

 

[Numure]

Sorry, but if I learned a foreign countries was sping on my own, I would be pissed as well.

 

[moghrabi]

Well Canadian Authorities already caught Mossad Spies in Canada in the 1990's Numere. Now they are targeting New Zealand.

 

[Andem]

I am royally pissed that Israel would have spies operating in and using the identification of a country such as New Zealand. They are a western ally and have been around longer than the state we call Israel.

Truly embarassing for Israel, as they always seem to be in the wrong... Infact, their state is very questionable. On that note, if they keep pissing people off, I'd love to see sanctions.

 

[researchok]

Really.

And do you feel that way about the Brit spies, the French spies and the German spies-- all acight spying in 'friendly countries'?

 

[researchok]

I am royally pissed that Israel would have spies operating in and using the identification of a country such as New Zealand. They are a western ally and have been around longer than the state we call Israel.

Truly embarassing for Israel, as they always seem to be in the wrong... Infact, their state is very questionable. On that note, if they keep pissing people off, I'd love to see sanctions.

What exactly is so questionable about their state?

 

[moghrabi]

'Mossad spies' jailed over New Zealand passport fraud

David Fickling in Sydney
Friday July 16, 2004
The Guardian

The prime minister of New Zealand angrily denounced Israel and imposed diplomatic sanctions on it after two suspected Mossad agents were jailed for six months for trying on false grounds to obtain a New Zealand passport.
The plot, which involved obtaining a passport in the name of a tetraplegic man who had not spoken in years, provoked a furious reaction yesterday.

"The breach of New Zealand laws and sovereignty by agents of the Israeli government has seriously strained our relationship with Israel," said the prime minister, Helen Clark.

"This type of behaviour is unacceptable internationally by any country. It is a sorry indictment of Israel that it has again taken such actions against a country with which it has friendly relations."

High-level visits between the two countries will be cancelled, visa restrictions imposed for Israeli officials, and an expected visit to New Zealand by Moshe Katsov, the Israeli president, later this year has been cancelled.

Ms Clark said Israel had ignored requests made three months ago for an explanation and an apology.

The action marks the most serious rupture in New Zealand's international relations since Wellington suspended diplomatic relations with France in 1985 after French agents bombed Greenpeace's anti-nuclear ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour.

The Mossad plot was uncovered in March when a passport officer noticed that a passport applicant was speaking with a Canadian or American accent.

The clue led to the uncovering of a complex conspiracy involving up to four Israeli agents, who had attempted to create a false identity for 36-year-old Zev Barkan, another suspected Israeli spy, using a fraudulent birth certificate, a fake voicemail message and letter box, and concocted medical symptoms.

Uriel Kelman, 30, and Eli Cara, 50, were each sentenced to six months in prison yesterday for their involvement in the plot. Both men had gone to elaborate steps to conceal their identities: Kelman appeared at the court wearing a balaclava and covered his face throughout the two-hour hearing, while Cara had changed his hair colour, complexion and build since his first court appearance in March.

Mr Barkan and a fourth man believed to have been connected to the plot are still on the run. Mr Barkan lived in a house just a few hundred metres from his target, a wheel-chair user who has not been named for legal reasons. Cara set up a false travel agency in Sydney to aid the deception.

A birth certificate was obtained using details of the man's mother, who now lives in England, and an Auckland doctor was persuaded to witness Mr Barkan's passport application after seeing him for a couple of minor ailments.

Kelman and Cara were arrested in March following a prolonged cat-and-mouse game in Auckland when police traced phone records between Mr Barkan and the two men.

Officers planned to arrest the ringleaders as they picked up the completed passport, but Cara had pre-empted this by having it sent by courier to an apartment block, where it was to be collected by a taxi driver and taken to a rendezvous with Kelman elsewhere in Auckland.

Police surveillance caught Cara acting suspiciously, close to the central Auckland apartment block, while Kelman was arrested after fleeing the other rendezvous and throwing his mobile phone into a hedge.

Israel's acting ambassador in Australia, Orma Sagiv, said Israel would work to rebuild relations with New Zealand.

"Israel values its relations with New Zealand very much and we will do everything we can to return relations to their former situation," she said.

In Jerusalem, Silvan Shalom, the Israeli foreign minister, said Israel was disappointed with New Zealand's reaction.

"Israel is very sorry about the decision that was taken by the [New Zealand] government," Mr Shalom said. "But we believe that if we will work one with each other as we used to work in the past, we will overcome the last difficulty."

Mossad has frequently been accused of using fake passports to launch its operations. A 1997 incident in which Mossad agents used fake Canadian passports in an attempt to assassinate the Hamas leader, Sheikh Khaled Mashal, caused the Israeli ambassador to be ordered out of Canada until Tel Aviv promised to cease the practice.[/b]

 

[moghrabi]

You know what the funny part is in the above article:

In Jerusalem, Silvan Shalom, the Israeli foreign minister, said Israel was disappointed with New Zealand's reaction.

What the hell israel expects from New Zealand, to say oh it is only Israel and they can do whatever they want. You are forgiven. You are the chosen people. What a F***ing Joke.

 

[researchok]

What the hell israel expects from New Zealand, to say oh it is only Israel and they can do whatever they want. You are forgiven. You are the chosen people. What a F***ing Joke.

I can understand how you feel.

After all, there are people who look at suicide bombers, religious fanatics that behead others, watched those dancing in the streets at 9/11, remain indifferent to Female Genital Mutilation, care not a whit about the butchery in Sudan (ONLY a milliion and a half dead), Algeria (where the GIA raped children in the name of Allah), watched as East Timorese Christians were converted at circumcised at the end if a sword, blow up trains and subways in Spain and France and hundreds of other examples of how some people experess their humanity.

I guess you can't blame some people for how they feel, either.

As they say, 'some 'religion of peace'.

As they say, 'How very'Enlightened'.

Know what I mean?....... Sure you do.

 

[moghrabi]

I am proud of my religion. It is a religion of peace. As for the bombings, they are done by the name of god by fanatics. so do not generalize things here since I can generalize even more.

You do hate Islam from what I read. That is your choice. But i don't hate Christianinty or Judaism. I am against Zionism.

So I ask you to leave religion aside. This is a personal insult now.

 

[researchok]

You said 'the chosen people', a religious referance.

Your words, not mine.

Further, I said 'some people' may draw their own conclusions.

As you said, you may want to consider leaving religion out of the converstaion.

I don't think thats where you really want to go.

 

[moghrabi]

Are you one of those chosen people by any chance?

 

[researchok]

No, Anglican. You asked me that a while ago

Why?

Are you one of those 'enlightened', 'religion of peace peace people'?

 

[moghrabi]

First I never asked about your religion before. Please check.

Second. Yes I am a proud memeber of the religion of peace as any other religions. I am not a fanatic but i am a moslem. Just as you are an anglican. One God for all.

Now as comparing autrocities, you can go way back and check what the white man did during the centuries in the name of the church.

Now we do not want to go too far and start insulting religions. Because I will not stoop that low.

 

[researchok]

My point was and is, your referance to religion.

I don't care what you believe, nor do I care about anyone elses religion.

People are judged by their actions. period.

Many use religionasa tool, a weapon. But in the end, it is the actions, words and deeds tha men are judged by.

As I said, you might want to avoid bringing religion into the arena of debate. It has not and will not serve you, or anyone else very well.

 

[moghrabi]

I am fine with my actions. I sleep well at night saying what I believe is true. That does not mean that you have to believe the same thing.

If people going to judge me by my words, then read all the posts and see for yourself. I do have a point to make and I am making it.

I will not avoid bringing religion to this but this discussion is political rather than religious. But feel free to insult me and my religion at anytime. I know you are waiting for a chance.

 

[researchok]

My issue with you is the referance YOU made, disparaging anothers faith-- its that simple.

It is, as I said, a dangerous game.