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Israelis admit to unlawfully trying to obtain NZ passport
By Yossi Melman,
Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz
Service
TWO Israeli men admitted in a
New Zealand court Friday to trying to unlawfully acquire a New Zealand passport, Australian media reported.
Uriel Zosha Kelman, 30, and Elisha
Cara, 50, pleaded guilty in the Auckland High
Court to one charge of participating in an organized crime group by attempting to unlawfully obtain a New Zealand passport, according to
Australian Associated Press. They had denied committing criminal offenses after their arrest about four months ago.
Justice Judith Potter convicted the pair and remanded them in custody for sentencing on July
15. A third man, Zev William Barkan, and
“persons unknown” — who have not been located —
were also allegedly involved in trying to obtain a passport in the name of a wheelchair-bound cerebral palsy sufferer, the agency said.
In April, the New Zealand Herald reported that senior government officials believed that
Kelman and Cara, who claimed to be a Sydney-based travel agent, were actually Mossad
agents.
The indictment’s
reference to an organized crime group relates to
the number of people involved, and not the
reported links to Israel’s spy agency, according
to AAP.
Kelman’s attorney, Grant Illingworth, has previously argued that media reports that the
Israelis are Mossad agents constitute “a violation of the principle of sub judice, and have undermined the chances for a proper and fair trial.”
The attorney said at the end of April that
Kelman and Cara were not under suspicion for espionage-related offenses. “They are suspected of regular criminal offenses, which they deny; and despite this, and contrary to the law and the norm, a number of newspapers, and the New Zealand
Herald in particular, have published irresponsible reports about them supposedly being
Mossad spies,” Illingworth said.
Suspicions
about Cara were originally triggered by a
passport officer who thought his accent did not
match the Anglo-Saxon name on the application.
It turned out the name was that of a wheelchair
bound New Zealander suffering from cerebral
palsy.
TVNZIsraelis admit passport fraud
Both men are believed to have links with the
Israeli Secret Service – Mossad
.
When the two men were arrested in April, the
Acting Foreign Affairs Minister called in the
Israeli government representative in Canberra for a please explain.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said a strong and public response would be made once the case was over.
But Clark’s office said there will be no official comment until after sentencing.
The guilty plea shocked
the court as the media gathered for what was
expected to be a simple court appearance.
Suspicions about Cara were originally triggered by a passport officer who thought his accent did not match with the Anglo-Saxon name on the application.
It turned out, the name was that of a wheelchair bound New Zealander suffering from cerebral palsy.
Police say the case highlights the measures already in place to protect the integrity of the
New Zealand passport.
Authorities hope the case serves as a warning to others contemplating the use of a false New Zealand passport.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of up to seven years behind bars. The Israelis will be sentenced in a fortnight.
There have been previous diplomatic incidents between Israel and other countries involving false passports.
Israeli intelligence and counter-terrorism agency Mossad prompted a diplomatic row with Canada over its use of fake Canadian passports in operations in the 1990s.