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Posted Thursday, July 15, 2004

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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, New Zealand's tough talking Prime Minister

BBC News

London, Thursday, July 15, 2004

New Zealand jails Israeli 'spies'

agentsThe Israelis pleaded guilty but denied
they were Mossad agents

NEW Zealand has imposed diplomatic sanctions on Israel over the activities of two alleged members of the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad.

The Israelis were sentenced to six months in prison for trying to obtain New Zealand passports illegally.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said that such acts by what she called Israeli government agencies were a violation of New Zealand sovereignty.

The Israelis, Uriel Zosha Kelman and Eli Cara, deny working for Mossad.

They did plead guilty to attempting to gain New Zealand passports illegally and working with organised criminal gangs.

In a statement to the Auckland court trying the men, Ms Clark said she would suspend government visits to Israel, Israeli officials would need visas to enter New Zealand and foreign ministry contacts would be suspended.

Her government is also planning to refuse any request for Israel's President, Moshe Katsav, to visit next month when he is due in Australia and delay its approval for the appointment of a new Israeli ambassador to New Zealand.

Apology demanded

Helen ClarkMs Clark (right) said she had no doubt the two men were Israeli intelligence agents and that the case was "far more than simple criminal behaviour by two individuals".

She said the case had "seriously strained our relationship" with Israel. New Zealand had asked Israel for an explanation and an apology, but had received neither.

An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said he was sure that Israel could repair the diplomatic damage and re-establish good relations with New Zealand, but did not specify how the Israeli government would go about it.

A BBC correspondent in Jerusalem, David Chazan, says Israeli officials give the impression of regarding New Zealand as a relatively unimportant country. Sources close to the government say the Israeli reaction might have been different if a larger and more influential country had been involved.

The two Israelis were arrested in March [2004] after they tried to collect a passport in the name of a New Zealand national who is a wheelchair-bound cerebral palsy victim.

Trying to obtain a passport fraudulently carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment in New Zealand.

News agency reports say the two Israelis received lighter sentences because they pleaded guilty and because they pledged to donate $32,700 to a local charity.

 

Two Israelis plead guilty to trying to acquire a New Zealand passport | The spies who stole my name
Mossad sending hostile New Zealand Message Via Asian-Based organisations after arrest of two agents
May 19, 2004: BBC reports that Lebanon smashes Mossad assassination ring
May 13, 2004: The 1979 Mossad Assassination attempt on Ambassador John Dean: Dean papers with full taste of Mossad's evil opened at Jimmy Carter's Presidential Library
May 9, 2004: Israelis with fake docs arrested in Tennessee, 'how to fly' leaflet found; were seen to toss something else out of Ryder truck, FBI called in
May 1, 2004: Crown Prince Abdullah says Zionists behind Terror attacks in Saudi Arabia
A history of Mossad's overseas bungling
Apr 29 -- May 2004: Secrecy surrounds two Mossad agents when they reappear in Auckland court on NZ passport forgery charges | Police fear al Qaeda terrorists using NZ passports following arrest of 2 men in Thailand and seizure of fake NZ passports | The two Mossad agents charged with NZ passport offences photographed in Auckland reporting to police as part of bail conditions | Two men believed by senior Government figures to be Israeli secret service agents have been arrested in Auckland trying to obtain a false New Zealand passport | One Mossad agent entered NZ on a fake Canadian passport

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