NZ spies bugged Israeli agents
By Audrey Young
New Zealand Herald
20 July 2004
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydispl...oryID=3579251&
thesection=news&thesubsection=general
New Zealand intelligence agencies are understood to have bugged
the two Israeli passport fraudsters and gained concrete evidence
that they were Mossad agents.
Israel will neither confirm nor deny the status of the prisoners.
But Prime Minister Helen Clark said last week there was no doubt
that the pair, Eli Cara and Urie Kelman, were operatives of the
Israeli intelligence agency.
She also said that Israel knew how New Zealand was aware of the
men's status.
The Herald understands New Zealand's intelligence agencies
confirmed the pair were Mossad agents through bugging their
communications. Covert surveillance was undertaken after an
Internal Affairs officer became suspicious about a passport
application.
The men were arrested on March 23. Last week they were jailed for
six months for attempting to fraudulently obtain a passport.
The intelligence operation before their arrest would have been
under the auspices of the Government Communications Security
Bureau or the Security Intelligence Service.
But it is more likely to have been the security bureau, which is
specifically geared to foreign intelligence matters.
In either case, an interception warrant would normally have
required the consent of the minister in charge of both services,
the Prime Minister.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Phil Goff, would most
likely have been consulted.
Helen Clark has asked for an apology from Israel but she said
yesterday it appeared unlikely Israel would comment until after
the sentences had been served. "Whether we get anything of course
is a moot point."
[size=4]She did not believe an expression of regret last week from Foreign
Minister Silvan Shalom ("We are sorry about this matter") was an
apology.
[/size]"But the tone was conciliatory which was a good first step I
suppose," she said on Newstalk ZB.