Israel Matzav: Britain expels senior Mossad representative in London

Britain expels senior Mossad representative in London

Britain has expelled a senior representative of the Mossad who was attached to the Israeli embassy in London as part of the fallout from the al-Mabhouh liquidation. The man left the UK on Monday night. Curiously, his name is not mentioned in the British media (I would not have expected it to be mentioned in the Israeli media.

Here's a brief clip from Foreign Secretary David Miliband's statement on the subject.

Let's go to the videotape.



The Times of London has more on Israel's reaction (Hat Tip: NY Nana).

Israel said it regretted the British move. “The relationship between Israel and Britain is mutually important. We therefore regret the British decision,” said Yigal Palmor, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry.

While the government was measured in its response to the new diplomatic crisis erupting with the UK, MPs from the far right were quick to denounce the British as “dogs” who were not to be trusted.

"I think the British are behaving hypocritically and I don't want to offend dogs on this issue, since some dogs are utterly loyal," MK Aryeh Eldad, of the National Union, an ultra-nationalist pro-settler party, told Sky News. "Who are they to judge us on the war on terror?"

Mr Eldad called for a tit-for-tat expulsion of a senior British diplomat, but Israeli officials said such a move was out of the question.

Another National Union MP, Michael Ben-Ari, added, "The British may be dogs, but they are not loyal to us, but rather to an anti-Semitic system, and Israeli diplomacy partially plays into their hands. This is anti-Semitism disguised as anti-Zionism".

Other, more centrist MPs said however that Israel’s policy of refusing to respond to such accusations had served it well and allowed it to weather the diplomatic storm that erupted when Dubai police accused Mossad of killing the Hamas leader.

"I believe keeping silent was a good policy at the height of the Dubai crisis, and certainly it is now, when it is nearly behind us," said Tzahi Hanegbi, a member of the opposition Kadima Party who chairs the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.

Isn't it curious that they managed not to interview a single coalition MK?

I think it's unfortunate that the Brits decided to do this but it's not the end of the world. While a few more European countries may expel Israeli diplomats in a similar manner, it seems like short of someone actually finding a real Mossad agent who was involved in the liquidation, this is the end of it. And that's a good thing.

Israel Matzav: Britain expels senior Mossad representative in London