Australia ordered the expulsion of an Israeli diplomat after an investigation concluded Israel forged four Australian passports used in the assassination of a senior Hamas leader.
Stressing that the decision was taken “much more in sorrow than in anger,” Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said May 24 that he had requested an unnamed diplomat to be withdrawn within one week.
“These are not the actions of a friend,” he said. “No government can tolerate the abuse of its passports, especially by a foreign government.”
Australia’s punitive reaction follows Britain’s action in March, expelling an Israeli security agent following an investigation that it said offered compelling evidence that Israel was behind the Jan. 20 assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a hotel in Dubai.
Expulsion of a diplomat is considered a very serious measure. — jta