Israel said it will do everything it can to restore diplomatic relations with New Zealand but stopped short of apologising after two alleged Mossad agents were jailed for attempting to fraudulently obtain a New Zealand passport.
Eli Cara and Urie Kelman, who are widely believed to be Israeli spies, received a six month jail sentence after pleading guilty to trying to obtain the false documents using the identity of a wheelchair bound cerebral palsy sufferer.
But three months after Prime Minister Helen Clark asked for an explanation and an apology, she has not received one.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry instead issued a statement.
"Israel regrets the current state of the traditional and friendly relations between both countries. Israel values its relationship with New Zealand and will do anything it can in order to return those relations to their prior state," the statement said.
The spy scandal was widely reported around the world from Canada to Qatar.
But
according to former Mossad chief Danny Yatom, such scandals are no
gauge of the agency's real feats.
"Mossad is one of the best intelligence agencies in the world,"
Yatom said. "Yet even the best agencies are bound to suffer
mishaps. Because of the secret nature of intelligence gathering,
most... achievements are never made public."
The government suspended all diplomatic ties with Israel over the incident.
Clark described the case as a serious attempt to undermine the New Zealand passport system.
"We regard it as an unfriendly action by agents of the government of Israel aimed at undermining New Zealand's sovereignty and certainly breaching international law," said Clark.
Clark said the New Zealand government is suspending all high level visits and exchanges with Israel, and that any Israeli officials wanting to come to New Zealand will have to get visas.
She says the government will not be rapidly agreeing to the appointment of a new Israeli ambassador, will put constraints on official dealings with Israeli honorary consuls, and will not be accepting the Israeli approach to have its president visit New Zealand in August.
"We are taking a very dim view of this and we look forward at some point to the Israeli government swallowing its pride and offering the explanation and apology we've asked for."
Kelman, 31, and Cara, 50, captured international attention when it was revealed they could have links to the Israeli secret service, Mossad.
On Thursday, Justice Potter imposed the six month terms and ordered the pair to each pay $50,000 reparation to the Cerebral Palsy Society. The man whose identity they used to obtain a passport has cerebral palsy.
The pair made multiple visits to New Zealand in the attempt to obtain a New Zealand passport. They were working with two others when they were caught.
A passport officer became suspicious that Cara's foreign accent didn't match the anglo-saxon name on the application.
David Philp of the Department of Internal Affairs says the case shows their systems are effective.
Police followed the passport's delivery through central Auckland. It led them to Cara, who was waiting for its arrival at a nearby cafe.
After arresting Cara police went with the package to where Kelman was waiting. He was caught throwing away his phone, which was used in a series of calls to Cara.
Political experts believe Israeli spy agency Mossad has spread its operations further afield into the South Pacific to keep pace with global terrorism.
It is
known that Cara's Israeli home is in a wealthy neighbourhood
popular with intelligence personnel.
