OFFICIALS IN Jerusalem believe the diplomatic storm surrounding the assassination of Hamas militant Mahmoud al-Mabhouh last month will die down following meetings with governments regarding use of foreign passports in the Dubai operation.
This follows Thursday’s meeting at the Department of Foreign Affairs with Israel’s ambassador to Ireland, Zion Evrony, and similar discussions in London and Paris involving Israel’s envoys.
Israeli officials are still refusing to confirm or deny the Mossad was behind the killing of the man believed to be the key figure in the smuggling of Iranian arms into Gaza. Despite the fact that the names of British-born Israelis were on British passports used by the suspects, there is still no concrete proof linking the operation to the Israeli spy agency.
This is not the first time Israel has had to weather a diplomatic storm over the alleged use of foreign passports. In 1997, Mossad agents used forged Canadian passports in a bungled attempt to assassinate Hamas politbureau chief Khaled Meshal in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
Israel’s then ambassador to Ottawa, Alan Baker, was summoned by Canadian authorities to provide answers. Mr Baker believes that, as with the Amman affair, the current case will mean no long-term crisis in Israel’s bilateral ties. “The international fight against terror is a fight we are all involved in,” he said. “The use of passports could cause a breach in relations between the secret services, but this will be patched up. The ambassadors were called in to give explanations, but this is as far as it will go.”
Israel’s prime minister must give the green light for a Mossad assassination attempt. Israel’s prime minister at the time of the botched 1997 Meshal operation was, coincidentally, the incumbent – Benjamin Netanyahu.
Despite the negative publicity surrounding the use of foreign passports, most Israeli analysts were reluctant to describe the Dubai operation as a failure, noting that the target was eliminated without the capture of any of the perpetrators. It was taken for granted that assassinating militant leaders abroad was a legitimate activity for a spy agency.
However, the “success” was only partial. If the suspects whose photographs were released by the Dubai police were indeed Mossad agents, then all 11 will no longer be able to be assigned abroad.
In the tightly-knit community of Israelis who emigrated from English-speaking countries, there were few families who did not personally know one of the six British-born Israelis whose names appeared on the British passports used in the operation, or knew someone who did.
Identifying the 11 suspects whose pictures were released by Dubai police was more difficult. Newspapers and websites were full of stories of mistaken identity.
One man, with a likeness to one of the alleged assassins, related how he was stopped repeatedly by passersby who congratulated him on the operation.