By Chris Whitworth
Seven years after Israeli spies were found operating in New Zealand, there are fresh allegations of Mossad agents operating in Christchurch on the day of February’s quake.
The Southland Times today alleged an Israeli man killed in Christchurch’s February quake was a Mossad spy working with three other agents to extract intelligence from the national police computer.
The Prime Minister and police have today been quick to deny there was a breach of national security, Mr Key saying the incident is "not in the national interest".
3news.co.nz looks at the history and past operations of the covert Israeli spy group.
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What is Mossad?
The Mossad, also known as the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations, is Israel’s chief national intelligence agency.
Founded in 1951, the agency quickly built a reputation for targeted killings, covert operations and extensive intelligence collection well beyond Israel’s borders.
Mossad help form the three-pronged Israeli Intelligence Community, along with the institution’s military arm, the Aman, and internal security agency, the Shin Bet.
What have been some of Mossad’s operations?
The Israeli Government rarely comments on Mossad operations, but several high-profile assassinations and covert operations have been reported since the agency’s inception.
One of Mossad’s most famous operations was the abduction of a chief Nazi officer, Adolf Eichmann, who fled to Argentina after the war. Mossad agents tracked down Eichmann in 1960 and smuggled him back into Israel where he was tried and executed by a civilian court.
The group solidified their reputation for covert killing in the 1970s, following the “Munich massacre” in which 11 Israeli athletes were killed at the Munich Olympics. Israel’s premier of the time, Golda Meir, ordered Mossad to kill the group of Palestinians responsible.
The operation, known as Wrath of God, was carried out over the following years and saw 11 Palestinians killed in targeted operations.
The 2005 film Munich starring Australian actor Eric Bana is based on the deadly operation. Bana plays a former Mossad agent who heads up the mission.
Mossad are also linked to the killing of key German scientists involved in Egypt's rocket programme of the 1960s, later in the 1980s, the targeting killing of Iraqis connected to nuke programmes and in the 1990s the assassination of a Jihadi leader.
What is Mossad’s connection to New Zealand?
The first known case of Mossad spies operating in New Zealand came in 2004 when two Israeli agents were jailed for six months for attempting to steal the New Zealand passports of babies with cerebral palsy.
A third man involved in the case fled New Zealand before being caught. Six years later he was linked to a targeted killing of a Hamas operative in Dubai.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister of the time, Helen Clark, called the spies’ actions a “breach of New Zealand laws and sovereignty” and imposed diplomatic sanctions on Israel.
The rift in relations with Israel continued until 2005 when the Israeli government formally apologised.
Why are New Zealand passports targeted?
New Zealand passports are thought to be targeted by Mossad because they offer agents a seemingly unsuspicious background.
A New Zealand passport also presents the opportunity for obtaining a British passport, as well as easier entrance into international NGOs.
3 News
source: newshub archive
