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
London,
New
Zealand jails Israeli ‘spies’
[agents]The
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 Clark]Ms
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
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1979 Mossad Assassination attempt on Ambassador
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Mossad’s evil opened at Jimmy Carter’s
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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
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A history of Mossad’s overseas bungling
Apr 29 — May 2004:
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