UK Expels Israeli Diplomat Over Dubai Passports

[Steely Glint]

The UK is to expel an Israeli diplomat over 12 forged British passports used in the killing of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in January.

David Miliband said there were "compelling reasons" to believe Israel was responsible for the forgeries.

The foreign secretary said the misuse of British passports was "intolerable".

Israel's ambassador to London, Ron Prosor, said he was "disappointed", but Israel confirmed there would be no tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsion.

Mr Prosor said: "The relationship between Israel and the UK is of mutual importance, hence we are disappointed by the... decision."

The name of the diplomat has not been released.

Israel has previously said there is no proof it was behind the killing at a Dubai hotel.

'High-quality forgeries'

The foreign secretary said officers from Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) had investigated the matter of the passports.

It had concluded the passports used were copied from genuine British passports when handed over for inspection to individuals linked to Israel, either in Israel or in other countries, he said.

"Given that this was a very sophisticated operation, in which high-quality forgeries were made, the government judges it is highly likely that the forgeries were made by a state intelligence service," he said.

"We have concluded that there are compelling reasons to believe Israel was responsible for the misuse of the British passports."

The incident "represents a profound disregard for the sovereignty of the United Kingdom" he said.

He said the fact that Israel was a friend added "insult to injury".

The BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen said the expulsion sent a "very clear message" of British disapproval.

"It is a very big step for a government like the British to expel one of the diplomats belonging to one of its important allies," he said.

It is believed 12 fake British passports were used in the plot to murder Mr Mabhouh - the founder of Hamas's military wing - in his hotel room in Dubai on 19 January.

The names and details on the UK passports used by eight of the 12 suspects belonged to British-Israeli citizens living in Israel - all of whom have denied involvement in Mr Mabhouh's murder.

"Regret" is the official Israeli emotion, not anger, not surprise, and certainly not retribution.

There is a clear Israeli desire to dampen this argument down from one where it could damage the wider relationship.

"It doesn't look good," was the terse verdict of one former senior diplomat. Other sources suggested this was a "standard dance" Britain had to go through.

But this is not being said with a tremendous swagger. After all, this is not the first time Israel has been caught with its hand in a sweet jar full of British passports. On that occasion, more than 20 years ago, Israel promised not to repeat the offence. That promise appears to have expired.

Israel is already feeling the heat from the US for its continued building on occupied territory. The Israeli government will not, right now, want to fight on too many fronts.

Mr Miliband said there was no evidence to suggest that any of the 12 passport holders were anything other than "wholly innocent victims of identity theft".

He said he was amending the official travel advice to Israel to make British nationals aware of the risks of their passports being misused.

He said he had met Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman in Brussels on Monday and had made clear the UK's "determination to see that this affair should never be repeated".

He handed him a letter "seeking a formal assurance... that in the future the State of Israel would never be party to the misuse of British passports in such a way".

It is not the first time British passports have been misused by Israel. In 1987 the country was caught forging UK passports for an intelligence operation, and Israel promised it would not do it again.

On that occasion, eight British passports reckoned to be for Mossad agents were found in a bag in a West German telephone booth.

A spokesman for the Palestinian Hamas group said it welcomed the decision to expel the diplomat, but wanted international efforts to track down the killers stepped up.

Dubai police have used CCTV footage to identify 27 alleged members of the team that tracked and killed Mr Mabhouh.

Passports from France, Ireland, Germany and Australia were also forged in the operation, and they too are investigating Israel's role.

Dubai officials said they were "99% certain" that agents from Mossad were behind the killing.

Following his death, Mr Mabhouh's family said doctors who had examined him determined he had died after receiving a massive electric shock to the head. They also found evidence that he had been strangled.

Blood samples sent to a French laboratory confirmed he was killed by electric shock, after which the body was sent to Syria.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8582518.stm

I'm very disappointed in the UK Government here, since Israel should be able to do whatever it likes, but this actually doesn't matter at all because of *hand wave, mumble mumble*

[Dreadnaught]

The thing I don't get about all of this is how it could realistically take 12 people to do this. 12? Really?

I'd be curious to know how they are so sure that it was Israel in particular that altered the passports. And curious to know how many passports MI6 fakes.

[Nessus]

And curious to know how many passports MI6 fakes.

Surely a government isn't being hypocritical when it's protecting its own interests, even if it does so by trying to block others from doing what it also does? That's kind of the name of the game with nation states, isn't it?

[LittleFuzzy]

I'd be curious to know how they are so sure that it was Israel in particular that altered the passports. And curious to know how many passports MI6 fakes.

The Israeli response rather sounded like "mea culpa" to me.

And I'm sure M16 fakes plenty. But they don't go around carrying out what are obviously assassinations with them.

[Loki]

Interesting that the other European countries, the ones that don't have elections coming up in 2 months and where Israel-bashing is generally not a national hobby (with a few exceptions), aren't doing the same. Not that I think Mossad had nothing to do with this (I'm leaning toward it delegating the actual hit to some mercenaries/mobsters), but the reaction seems well-timed to get the anti-Israeli vote.

[Nessus]

Interesting that the other European countries, the ones that don't have elections coming up in 2 months and where Israel-bashing is generally not a national hobby (with a few exceptions), aren't doing the same. Not that I think Mossad had nothing to do with this (I'm leaning toward it delegating the actual hit to some mercenaries/mobsters), but the reaction seems well-timed to get the anti-Israeli vote.

Do you have statistics on the break-down of anti-Israeli sentiment among the European nations? Honest question; many hard-core Holocaust scholars make a point out of how wide-spread anti-Semitism currently is in the Eastern European (read: on the wrong side of the Iron curtain) countries contrasted with the West. Of course anti-Semitism isn't anti-Zionism automagically, but these are unwashed racist fucks we're talking about here, broadly, right?

[Loki]

Do you have statistics on the break-down of anti-Israeli sentiment among the European nations? Honest question; many hard-core Holocaust scholars make a point out of how wide-spread anti-Semitism currently is in the Eastern European (read: on the wrong side of the Iron curtain) countries contrasted with the West. Of course anti-Semitism isn't anti-Zionism automagically, but these are unwashed racist fucks we're talking about here, broadly, right?

Why are you conflating being anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic?



http://www.economist.com/world/europ...ory_id=7796479

And just from personal experience in Britain, the left there is constantly flirting with Islamists and is highly anti-Israeli. The pro-Israeli bloc spans the party lines, but isn't terribly large. Speaking out against Israel will get you more votes than it will cost you, that much is certain. The British newspapers are also very critical Israel (with only the Times being more or less neutral).

Also:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/S...&contrassID=13

[Steely Glint]

The thing I don't get about all of this is how it could realistically take 12 people to do this. 12? Really?

26. 12 British, 14 from various others. Those 26 were presumably everyone involved in the operation, not just those who actually killed the guy.

Interesting that the other European countries, the ones that don't have elections coming up in 2 months and where Israel-bashing is generally not a national hobby (with a few exceptions), aren't doing the same.

Yet.

AN IRISH investigation into the use of forged Irish passports in the assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai in January has yet to finish, the Department of Foreign Affairs has said.

...
The Irish investigation differs from the British one in that the Irish passports used were forged, whereas the British passports were cloned copies of genuine documents held by British citizens living, mostly, in Israel.

source etc

Plus, most of the passports were British.

Thatcher expelled 13 Israeli diplomats over a similar incident in 86, except there wasn't even an assassination involved, and it was followed by a promise not to do it again, so this is hardly unprecedented. This is a slap on the wrist by comparison.

but the reaction seems well-timed to get the anti-Israeli vote.

Yeah, I don't think Israel-Palestine is a very big election issue.

[Nessus]

I'm also baffled by the knee-jerk anti-Israelism of the Euro Left. But your article is also a bit disappointing, there's only four European nations in the chart

[Loki]

I'm also baffled by the knee-jerk anti-Israelism of the Euro Left. But your article is also a bit disappointing, there's only four European nations in the chart

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1097/ame...ps-over-israel

From what I've seen, it looked like the left was aligning itself with Islamists to get the rising Muslim vote. It's quite amusing to see leftists actively defend the views of those Islamists, especially regarding gay rights, women's rights, religious freedom, and freedom of speech.

[Nessus]

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1097/ame...ps-over-israel

From what I've seen, it looked like the left was aligning itself with Islamists to get the rising Muslim vote. It's quite amusing to see leftists actively defend the views of those Islamists, especially regarding gay rights, women's rights, religious freedom, and freedom of speech.

I find it terrifying rather than amusing, but yes, other than that, ugh

[earthJoker]

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1097/ame...ps-over-israel

From what I've seen, it looked like the left was aligning itself with Islamists to get the rising Muslim vote. It's quite amusing to see leftists actively defend the views of those Islamists, especially regarding gay rights, women's rights, religious freedom, and freedom of speech.

Also: Isreal = USA = bad.

If you look at it from a left-winger. For many anti-Israelism is just the logical conclusion from their anti-Americanism.

[Hazir]

Aside from the knee-jerk left wing thingy, it was to be expected. It's not the fact that they did it, but that they got caught doing it. And indeed, how many people does it take to fire a gun?

[Aimless]

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1097/ame...ps-over-israel

From what I've seen, it looked like the left was aligning itself with Islamists to get the rising Muslim vote. It's quite amusing to see leftists actively defend the views of those Islamists, especially regarding gay rights, women's rights, religious freedom, and freedom of speech.

The article describes results from a survery about attitudes towards the Israel/Palestine conflict and how they may relate to eg. being politically "left", an undefined term. There appears to be no further analysis adjusting for eg. ethnicity of the respondents. And there doesn't seem to be any comment on views re. gay rights, women's rights, religious freedom or freedom of speech, so how do you suggest I deal with your claim in that quote that, to me, seems based on anecdotal evidence?

[Loki]

The left has traditionally tried to attract the immigrant vote; it's just becoming more willing to sacrifice its ideals to get that vote.

[Echovirus]

I know this is playing semantics, but I thought the guy was injected with a muscle relaxer and suffocated with a pillow, not shot. Must've been a huge needle and a big ass pillow to take 12 of them.

[Dreadnaught]

They needed 12 people because the Mossad union has a lot of bargaining power and won't let the Zionists lay them off. It's like working on a subway, except with assassinations.

[Aimless]

Dear forum Zionists,
You guys are being suspiciously evasive. I realise you have a need to defuse tension--this situation is, after all, a little awkward. Nevertheless, I'd like to ask you two direct questions:

1. Are political assassinations okay?

2. Is it okay to assassinate political opponents using passports from an allied country that opposes assassinations??

All joking aside

[Hazir]

Dear forum Zionists,
You guys are being suspiciously evasive. I realise you have a need to defuse tension--this situation is, after all, a little awkward. Nevertheless, I'd like to ask you two direct questions:

1. Are political assassinations okay?

2. Is it okay to assassinate political opponents using passports from an allied country that opposes assassinations??

All joking aside

I think we have debated your first question before in a topic started by Wiggin. I think the best summary of that debate was; we don't agree. As for the second question; that is a matter of perspective. If you don't think political assassination is acceptable, then you don't have to deal with the morality of using false passports.

If you do thing they are within the realm of the acceptable, the means by which to do this are not really part of a question on morality any longer. Then the only thing that matters is; will you get caught or not. Of course for the Brits it will never be acceptable that British passports are used in this way; it devalues the passports that are legally held, and that means the fall out is on the heads of British citizens. Which the British government is supposed to protect and serve.

[Steely Glint]

Though the morality is debatable, I'm nor sure I have a massive problem with Israel assassinating someone who's practically an enemy combatant. I do have a problem with their using copied British passports to do it, though, because it causes problems for us and makes life more difficult for British citizens in the middle east, and put those British citizens whose passports were used to create the fakes versions in danger.

The British government takes the little blurb at the front of the passport very seriously. Using the passport in assassinations doesn't facilitate that.

[wiggin]

*yawns* I wasn't particularly concerned about this to be honest. It's a public slap on the wrist, but the diplomat's (read: Mossad station chief) replacement will be back in the UK before long. A dust-up like this happened back in the 80s and nothing particularly bad stuck around. I suppose it's a little hypocritical given the pretty common usage of foreign passports by intelligence services the world over, but it's a fair punishment for getting caught. What irked me was that the Brits essentially admitted they had no hard proof it was Israel's doing - just reasonable assumptions it was a 'state intelligence service' and some circumstantial evidence. Plenty of people wanted this guy dead, and it's easy to frame Israel for this one.

On a more prosaic level, you do have to wonder about the relative ease with which these guys were identified (and the number who did it). It seems awfully unprofessional and open to lots of errors. Could be the Mossad, certainly, but if so they need a serious shake-up. I mean, given the relatively quiet manner in which they have been dispatching people in the last few years (with at most rumors that it was them), it seems a bit crazy that they'd screw up so much. *shrugs*

Minx: we did have a debate on this a while back, but I'm afraid I didn't really have time to adequately follow up on it. I can try to resurrect the thread. Bottom line, it looks like no one - British government included - have any particular problem with assassination of terrorists nowadays (though I would probably quibble with your definition of 'political' assassination, which this most certainly was not). They just like it to stay anonymous and quiet. It seemed like more countries were upset about the use of passports than the actual assassination.

[Flixy]

Interesting that the other European countries, the ones that don't have elections coming up in 2 months and where Israel-bashing is generally not a national hobby (with a few exceptions), aren't doing the same. Not that I think Mossad had nothing to do with this (I'm leaning toward it delegating the actual hit to some mercenaries/mobsters), but the reaction seems well-timed to get the anti-Israeli vote.

Well, the Israelis did it before and then promised not to do it again. They broke the promise, got caught, they get a slap on the wrist. What's so strange about that? It's the UK government's duty to protect its citizens, for reasons Steely Glint pointed out above. Would you expect them to just publicly allow abuse of their passports?

[Loki]

Well, the Israelis did it before and then promised not to do it again. They broke the promise, got caught, they get a slap on the wrist. What's so strange about that? It's the UK government's duty to protect its citizens, for reasons Steely Glint pointed out above. Would you expect them to just publicly allow abuse of their passports?

So why not wait until after an investigation actually confirms that Israel was at fault?

[Hazir]

So why not wait until after an investigation actually confirms that Israel was at fault?

Let me get this straight; you tell us to trust upon an investigation by Arabs?

[Loki]

Let me get this straight; you tell us to trust upon an investigation by Arabs?

I mean a British investigation into the misuse of passports. As things stand, there's a lot of circumstantial evidence, but there's no way in hell any court would convict based on it.

[Flixy]

So why not wait until after an investigation actually confirms that Israel was at fault?

Dumdeedum

The foreign secretary said officers from Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) had investigated the matter of the passports.

Like they said, it's a breach of UK sovereignty, and they are rightly pissed.

[Steely Glint]

What have you seen on what evidence HMG does or doesn't hold, Loki?

[Loki]

Are we meant to be taking this on faith then?

[Steely Glint]

You seem to be under the impression that this is a trial.

[Dreadnaught]

Dear forum Zionists,
You guys are being suspiciously evasive. I realise you have a need to defuse tension--this situation is, after all, a little awkward. Nevertheless, I'd like to ask you two direct questions:

1. Are political assassinations okay?

2. Is it okay to assassinate political opponents using passports from an allied country that opposes assassinations??

All joking aside

1) In extreme circumstances of national survival, they can be. In Israel's circumstance, yes.

2) Trickier. In theory, it should have been a victimless crime. Except apparently it took forging a dozen passports from real people and they got horrendously caught. I don't generally have an issue with manufacturing "papers" for military/intelligence operations, but it's certainly unwise. In other words, I don't think of passports as sacrosanct. There are millions of people who would love to fake a usable Western passport; that's why Western countries make passports that are hard to fake.