Australia ousts Israeli Embassy Official

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith maintained that Australia would continue its ties with Israel however no government should accept the exploitation of its official documents and passports. It is expected the withdrawal be effective within a week

Smith ascertained that an investigation which was carried out revealed that four Australian passports used by the group were forgeries. The killing was conducted in January in a Dubai hotel. He added that there were similar incidents where Israel abused official Australian documents

The Israeli foreign ministry expressed disappointment of the decision

In March, Britain also kicked out an Israeli diplomat for the intolerable use of fake British passports employed in the killing. According to sources the expelled diplomat was a senior operative in Israel ‘s spy agency Mosad

Mosad has failed to assume responsibility for the killing of the Hamas victim arguing there is no proof of this claim. It has also abstained from commenting on the expulsions

Smith stated “We would want very much for cooperative relationships to proceed nonetheless there does require a rebuilding of trust and confidence”