The plot, which involved obtaining a passport in the name of a tetraplegic man who had not spoken in years, provoked a furious reaction yesterday, The Guardian said. One of the two men, 50-year-old Eli Cara, reportedly spent a significant amount of time in Sydney working as a travel agent before going to New Zealand.
Eli Cara and Uriel Kelman were yesterday jailed for six months in Auckland for trying to fraudulently obtain a New Zealand passport.
"The breach of New Zealand laws and sovereignty by agents of the Israeli government has seriously strained our relationship with Israel," said Prime Minister Clark.
"This type of behaviour is unacceptable internationally by any country. It is a sorry indictment of Israel that it has again taken such actions against a country with which it has friendly relations."
High-level visits between the two countries will be cancelled, visa restrictions imposed for Israeli officials, and an expected visit to New Zealand by Moshe Katsov, the Israeli president, later this year has been cancelled, The Guardian said.
Israel had ignored requests made three months ago for an explanation and an apology, she said. The action marks the most serious rupture in New Zealand's international relations since Wellington suspended diplomatic relations with France in 1985 after French agents bombed Greenpeace's anti-nuclear ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour, the article said.
According to The Guardian, The Mossad plot was uncovered in March when a passport officer noticed that a passport applicant was speaking with a Canadian or American accent.
This eventually led to the uncovering of a complex conspiracy involving up to four Israeli agents, who had attempted to create a false identity for 36-year-old fugitive Zev Barkan using a fraudulent birth certificate, a fake voicemail message and letter box, and concocted medical symptoms, the article said.
