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Revision as of 13:03, 20 August 2006
New Zealander-Israeli relations, which soured in 2004 amid allegations of clandestine Israeli spying in New Zealand, recovered in 2005 after the Israeli Foreign Minister apologized to the New Zealand government for the actions of several Israeli citizens who were suspected of working for Mossad. New Zealand has a consulate in Tel Aviv and Israel has an embassy in Canberra, Australia which also serves New Zealand. However, New Zealanders are warned against all travel to Israel because of terrorism-related risks.
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Economic ties
New Zealand sent about $12.5 million of exports to Israel in 2002 and received around $60.1 million of imports, including fertilizers, plastic and soap. In 1994 Israel opened a trade office in Auckland and a New Zealand and Israel Trade Association was established.
While the Israeli spies scandal did not leave "scars or grievances" between New Zealand and Israeli diplomats, the Jewish-New Zealander community was isolated economically. Business with Israel was hurt by a moratorium imposed by New Zealand companies on business deals and agreements until the crisis was resolved, significantly motivating Israel's apology.
Israeli spies scandal
On July 15, 2004, New Zealand imposed diplomatic sanctions against Israel and suspended high-level contacts between the two countries in July of 2005 after two Israeli citizens, Uriel Zosha Kelman and Eli Cara, were convicted of passport fraud in Auckland. New Zealand police allege that a third Israeli citizen, former Israeli diplomat Zev William Barkan, was the one who actually tried to get the passport. Tony Resnick, a former paramedic with St John Ambulance, which the cerebral palsy sufferer also belonged to, is also believed to have been involved. Barkan and Resnick were never found, but are believed to have left New Zealand before Kelman and Cara were caught. The New Zealand government said there was strong evidence that the two men were Mossad agents and Prime Minister Helen Clark said, "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." Kelman and Cara, who denied membership in Mossad but plead guilty to trying to enter the country illegally and working with organized criminal gangs, were sentenced to six months in jail. They were also ordered to pay US $32,500 to a cerebral palsy charity because they tried to collect a passport in the name of a wheelchair-bound cerebral palsy victim. After serving either two or three months they were deported. Cara, who visited New Zealand 24 times between October 2000 and March 2005, claims he was working as a travel agent.
The trial
The case was presided over by Judge Chris Field. Cara was respresented by Grant Illingworth and Kelman was represented by Nigel Faigan. Illingworth and Faigan unsuccessfully tried to get the case dismissed early on by saying that pre-trial publicity was of a "highly prejudicial content which is not part of the Crown case." Howard Way, a Lynfield general practitioner testified that a man using the name of the cerebral palsy sufferer in question had visited him. After the consultation the man, who the police suspect was Barkan, asked Way to witness his passport application as soon as possible because he was going to Australia to get married. Way said the man was "calm and gave me no reason not to believe him. I filled out the form." A fake post office box and voicemail phone service were also set up in the name of the victim, whose birth certificate was used in the passport application. New Zealand Internal Affairs official Ian Tingey saw the irregularity and called the applicant. Tingey said that the applicant's accent was Canadian or American. "When I quizzed him on his accent his explanantion to me was he had not travelled or held a New Zealand passport before but had spent a lot of time in New Zealand with Canadian friends and family." Tingey contacted the father of the cebebral palsy victim and realized the application was a fraud. The police bugged Kelman and Cara's phones, set up a sting operation, and caught Kelman and Cara in March of 2005. Barkan was never found.
Repercussions
Prime Minister Clark canceled a planned visit to New Zealand in August by Israeli President Moshe Katzav, delayed approval for a new Israeli ambassador to New Zealand, and called the case "far more than simple criminal behaviour by two individuals" which "seriously strained our relationship." Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom expressed sorrow, and said that Israel would work to repair the relationship. Dr. Alon Liel, former Director-General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said that Israel must protest the sanctions, "for if not, it's a silent admission that the two men worked for the Mossad."
The sanctions included suspending official visits to Israel and foreign ministry contacts, requiring visas for Israeli officials to enter New Zealand. Clark said, "The ball is in Israel's court as to where it wants to move from here. Three months ago we asked for an apology and an explanation. That has not been forthcoming."
Clark said that an official inquiry that began after Cara and Kelman were arrested, revealed that an Israeli passports factory had been issuing New Zealand passports. "We turned up a very small number that emanated from what we believe to be Israeli intelligence. Those passports have been cancelled and it would be futile to attempt to use them."
Jewish graves in Wellington were vandalized with Swastikas and Nazi slogans carved into and around 16 Jewish graves. The head of the New Zealand-Jewish community, David Zwartz, said, "there is a direct connection between the very strong expressions against Israel and people here feeling they can take it out on Jews. It seems to me Israel-bashing one day, Jew-bashing the next day."
Reconciliation
On June 26, 2005 Foreign Minister Shalom sent a letter of apology to the New Zealand government saying, "In this context, we wish to express our regret for the activities which resulted in the arrest and conviction of two Israel citizens in New Zealand on criminal charges and apologize for the involvement of Israeli citizens in such activities. Israel commits itself to taking steps to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents in the future." Diplomatic relations were fully re-established on August 30, 2005 when Naftali Tamir presented his credentials, which were accepted, to Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright before a guard of honor." The Foreign Minister's deputy director for Asia and the Pacific, Amos Nadav, said, "We are happy the crisis is behind us and look ahead to the future."
When Shalom and Jan Henderson, the New Zealand ambassador to Turkey, met for reconciliation talks on October 26, 2005, an Israeli government statement noted that the meeting was the first between high ranking New Zealander and Israeli officials "since the incident with the Mossad". Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev denied that it was an official admission of Mossad activity in New Zealand and said the "incident with the Mossad" should have been in inverted commas to reflect that the espionage is alleged only by the New Zealand government. "We have never said more than we have said in the case. This issue has been solved in a satisfactory way with the New Zealand government."
Australian Jewish News credited NZ MP Phillip Field, a Jewish-Samoan political novice, of acting as a bridge between the two governments when he visited Nissan Krupsky, the former Israeli ambassador to New Zealand, in Israel in December. AJN reported that Field met with Israeli Foreign Ministry officials secretly because of the NZ ban on meetings between the government's officials. New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff denied Field played any significant role in overcoming the diplomatic impasse on July 1. "It wasn't a high-level visit. What he was doing was in a private capacity to see people he knew in Israel and I didn't raise any objection to him going." According to AJN, "While Field's visit eventually turned out to have critical diplomatic significance, it was described as private so as not to be seen as violating the sanctions imposed by Clark. Nonetheless, throughout his visit Field served as middleman between the two Governments, maintaining phone contacts with Wellington in order to secure Clark's approval for the start of the Ankara talks." Foreign Minister Goff denied that the talks between Israeli FM official Michael Ronen and Ambassador Henderson were a direct result of Field's visit.
Nadav said New Zealand once "had excellent warm and friendly relations before and we wish to restore them to that same intensity. Yet we don't want to rush things by inundating New Zealand with ideas and programmes."
Criticism of the Clark administration
NZ MP Ken Shirley accused the Clark administration of aggravating the tension by refusing to allow an Israeli Deputy Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi to visit New Zealand for one day because of the freeze on visits from Israeli officials. Shirley said sanctions were supposed to only deny entry Israeli diplomats on official business and "This was clearly not the case in this instance. Mr Ashkenazi was invited to New Zealand by the United Israel Appeal to address an invitation-only meeting ... This was a fundraising event for a home for disadvantaged children in Israel. The message that Labour is sending out is that Israeli citizens aren't welcome in this country, whereas Phil Goff is happy to strut the world stage holding hands with Yasser Arafat." Phil Goff defended the visa refusal, saying that "If the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army is not a high-level visit, then perhaps the member would like to explain to the House what it is." Goff also said he was "hopeful of progress being made towards the resolution of these issues so that this unfortunate matter can be put behind us." David Zwartz, president of the Jewish Council in New Zealand, told National Radio that the Jewish community often invited foreign speakers to fundraising events. "I think it's unfortunate that the Government is applying its guidelines on a matter of diplomatic difference between Israel and New Zealand in a way that punishes the New Zealand Jewish community," said Zwartz.
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
Main article: Israel-Lebanon conflictOn August 14, 2006 Prime Minister Helen Clark expressed her happiness that the United Nations Security Council had unanimously passed Resolution 1701, calling for a "full cessation of hostilities" between Israeli and Hezbollah, on August 11.
"Reaching agreement on this resolution has been a protracted and difficult process. The next steps towards achieving an immediate ceasefire and a lasting solution may be just as trying. The onus now lies on the governments of Lebanon and Israel to accept the resolution as the basis for moving forward. They must work, in conjunction with the UN Secretary-General, to agree on the cessation of hostilities and the implementation of the steps identified in the resolution for the phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon and the compliance of all parties with the ceasefire arrangements. The international community will need to play its part in supporting the implementation of the resolution. I call on all parties involved in this tragic conflict, as well as the wider international community, to use their influence to help bring peace and a lasting solution. New Zealand stands ready to consider what role we might play in an expanded UN presence in southern Lebanon, taking into account the other demands on our Defence Force."
Fox news journalists kidnapping
Fox news journalists Olaf Wiig, a New Zealander photojournalist, and Steve Centanni, an American reporter for Fox News, were kidnapped in the Gaza Strip by armed men from their TV van near the Palestinian security services' headquarters on August 14, 2006.
A witness saw two vehicles blocking the journalist's transmission truck and a masked man put a gun to their bodyguard's head, forcing him to the ground.
In an internal message by Fox News Channel Senior Vice President John Moody confirmed the abduction and warned about reporting on the story.
Prime Minister Clark expressed concern for Wiig's safety and said "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was alerted by British authorities this morning. New Zealand diplomats are traveling to the region to work with other officials and governments on the release of Mr Wiig and his colleague."
Jan Henderson, NZ Ambassador to Turkey and Israel, arrived in Gaza on August 15. She met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinian leaders who were "very upset" about the kidnapping. Henderson said, "They assured me they are doing all they can, they take this matter extremely seriously, and we are looking for a very quick and peaceful resolution to this particular kidnapping. The Palestinian Authority has offered every cooperation. They are very upset. They have condemned the kidnapping, and they assured me they are doing everything they can for a quick and speedy resolution." After meeting with Abbas, Prime Minister Clark said, "On hearing of the kidnapping he had instructed the security apparatus of the Palestinian Authority to work to locate the kidnappers and secure the release... President Abbas was very fulsome in what he said. His parting comment was `these people are our guests and we will do whatever we can to help'."
No militant group claimed responsibility and no demands were made.
al-Jazeera called for the "immediate release" of the journalists and "in adherence to its code of ethics, reiterates its rejection of attacks of any kind on journalists from any organisation. Al Jazeera calls for the immediate release of the two kidnapped colleagues."
Wiig's wife, Anita McNaught, told New Zealand radio from Gaza City that she only heard "rumours, sons of rumours ... none of which we give much credence to" and that kidnappings in the region were "local entrepreneurial banditry". She is currently in Gaza city working with Fox news staff to find Wiig. McNaught said that although it was unusual for so much time to pass without news, "every kidnapping is different. There is no handbook for how you do them." She expressed hope for a breakthrough in the case in the next few days and said she was meeting with several senior officials. If Wiig is released, McNaught says it is unlikely they will soon leave the area.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman Rob Hole said there were no developments as of August 18, but said that NZ diplomats were "still active in talking but also active in waiting as well, so no breakthrough at all." Ambassador Henderson and the NZ consul to Egypt Brian Chambers have met with officials from the Palestinian, British, American and Australian foreign ministries. Senior diplomat Peter Rider is on his traveling to the Middle East and will replace Henderson, who is returning to New Zealand.
Journalist Fares Akram, who works in the same building Wiig did, said he thinks Palestinian officials have information on Wiig's captors and their location. Hole said he has "seen those reports too, but nothing's come through to us that changes the current situation."
On August 17 the United States State Department condemned the kidnappings and called for the journalists to be freed immediately. Clark phoned Wiig's family and offered her support and left a message with McNaught. Wiig's family said they were "deeply grateful for the care that is being extended to us and for the prime minister's direct call to us."
Harmeet Sooden press release
Harmeet Singh Sooden, an Auckland University student who was held captive in Iraq for four months by the Swords of Righteousness Brigade, appealed to the kidnappers in a press statement on August 17.
"During our captivity in Iraq, virtually all of Palestine called for our release. Today, I implore those holding Olaf Wiig and Steve Centanni to free them immediately and unharmed.
It is essential that we, the public, understand the greater context within which the kidnapping has taken place. Thousands of Palestinians, including hundreds of women and children, have been kidnapped by Israeli forces as part of a campaign to murder a nation under the aegis of the United States.
I also call upon the media to fulfil its obligations and report the reality of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and desist from counter-productive speculation and commoditizing private trauma.
I wish the negotiating team, which includes New Zealand diplomats, success.
- Harmeet Sooden
See also
References
- Israeli ambassador to meet NZ Governor-General
- How the trap was sprung
- How the trap was sprung
- Israel to take gradual approach to restoring ties
- New Zealand jails Israeli 'spies'
- Ritual shows NZ, Israel again friends
- Israel 'admits' to NZ spy mission
- A murky tale of bugs and spy claims
- Jurors can see through big-case publicity says judge
- How the trap was sprung
- Israel's New Zealand Problem
- New Zealand-Israeli row deepens
- Israel remains silent over Mossad role in scandal
- New Zealand-Israeli row deepens
- Israeli ambassador to meet NZ Governor-General
- Israel remains silent over Mossad role in scandal
- Ritual shows NZ, Israel again friends
- Apology opens door for Israeli minister to visit NZ
- Israel 'admits' to NZ spy mission
- Paper claims MP paved way for apology
- Israel to take gradual approach to restoring ties
- NZ welcomes Security Council resolution
- Report about Wiig and Centanni's kidnapping
- "2 Fox News journalists kidnapped in Gaza". AP. Retrieved August 14.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "Gunmen kidnap Fox News journalists in Gaza: witness". Reuters. Retrieved August 16.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "FNCers Kidnapped In Gaza: "Pray For Their Release. I Will Keep You Posted" --Moody". Media Bistro. Retrieved August 16.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - PM Regarding Captured New Zealand Cameraman
- NZ Ambassador arrives in Gaza
- PM calls Abbas over kidnapping
- New diplomat joins effort to free Olaf Wiig
- NZ Ambassador arrives in Gaza
- NZ Ambassador arrives in Gaza
- NZ Ambassador arrives in Gaza
- PM calls Abbas over kidnapping
- New diplomat joins effort to free Olaf Wiig
- New diplomat joins effort to free Olaf Wiig
- New diplomat joins effort to free Olaf Wiig
- PM calls Abbas over kidnapping
- Press Statement 17.08.06