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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1998, Pages 26-27
Mossad's Use of Canadian Passports: Two Reports
Canadian Press Calls for Inquiry into Allegations Regarding Mossad Use of Passports
By Faisal Kutty
Until last Sept. 25 a Canadian passport was considered one of the safest travel documents available. That was the day on which members of a Mossad assassination squad using altered passports of Canadian Jewish residents of Israel botched an attempt to murder Khaled Meshal, the political chief of the Hamas Islamic movement, in Amman. Now, according to Canadian press reports, including an article titled "Are Canadians in Jeopardy?" in Maclean's, Canadians traveling in the Middle East are already encountering difficulties.
The failed mission carried out on Jordanian territory had the blessings of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who accepted "final responsibility" for the decision. The murder bid not only strained relations with Israel's friendliest Arab neighbor, it also raised concerns in Canada. Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy reacted by recalling Canada's ambassador, David Berger, on Oct. 2. David Viveash, Canadian chargé d'affaires in Tel Aviv, said "the whole affair has raised a number of questions for Canada." One concern was how Israel's Mossad came into possession of Canadian passports. According to Viveash, Canada has "protested vigorously" the use of Canadian passports by counterintelligence agents for the past 30 years.
The Mossad obviously concluded that the protests did not apply to Israel. Canadian journalists learned that Canadian immigrants to Israel are routinely asked to turn over their passports for Mossad use. Norman Spector, the first Jewish Canadian to serve as ambassador to Israel (from 1992 to 1995), confirmed this but then alleged that Canadian authorities are aware of it and turn a blind eye. In a series of media statements bound to complicate the lives of hundreds of Canadians living and working in 45 Muslim countries around the globe, Spector suggested that Canada's intelligence service actively cooperates with Israeli agents. He told the Toronto Star that "there has been an attempt to sort of cover up all of this right from the beginning."
Spector, who now is the publisher of the Jerusalem Post, claimed in numerous media interviews and in his columns in the Jerusalem Post and the Globe and Mail that he knows from experience that there is extensive "active" cooperation between Mossad and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). Even chargé d'affaires Viveash admitted that the CSIS is "in touch" with its Israeli counterpart and cooperates with it in combatting terrorism, drug traffic and other crimes. He told the Jerusalem Post that "Canada has security cooperation with a number of allies."
Arab Canadian groups have been complaining for some time about that close cooperation. Immigration Canada uses information supplied by Mossad, which is known to plant disinformation for political purposes, in considering refugee and immigration claims from Israel and Palestine. Spector seemed to confirm this in his Nov. 7 column in the Globe and Mail when he wrote:
Canadian immigrants to Israel are routinely asked to turn over their passports for Mossad use.
"For its part, Canada is reluctant to have it known that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) shares information with its counterparts around the world, including with Israel's Mossad. Most of the information provided by Israel is routine, although it can be very helpful in rooting out terrorists and other undesirable elements who wish to take advantage of Canada's liberal immigration policies. On occasion, however, the information can be especially valuable. Israel has supplied information in the past that allowed Canadian authorities to uncover spies operating in Canada. Israeli operational agents have been given to understand that the use of Canadian passports is the quid pro quo."
Foreign Minister Axworthy, who is on record as stating that CSIS shares information with Mossad about terrorism but "does not undertake any kind of overseas operation," has brushed aside Spector's comments as irresponsible and threatening the safety of Canadians abroad.
But Spector won't be shushed. "It goes beyond information sharing," claims Spector. "There are joint operations." He has reported, for instance, that there was a CSIS operative working for him at the Tel Aviv embassy and that he was a witness to "a lot" of CSIS activities. Spector, who also served as former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's chief of staff, said that Canadians do not know of Canada's obligations pursuant to its commitments at the Sharm el-Sheikh anti-terrorism summit in March 1996.
Some Canadian commentators suggest that 48-year-old Spector's aim is to embarrass the current government and sell his newspaper, which has a circulation of 30,000. The first charge is leveled because he was removed from his post as ambassador to Israel by the incoming Liberal government in 1995 to make room for its own political appointee. Spector claims that his objective in "coming out" is to ensure that Foreign Minister Axworthy does not get away with "pulling the wool over Canadians' eyes." He told the Toronto Star that he is driven by his new vocation as a journalist whose role is "exposing lies, writing about the facts and gaining a hearing for one's views."
Spector appears to tailor his comments to suit his readers, however. In his columns in Canada and comments to Canadian journalists, he gives the impression that he is concerned about Canada's interests. He goes so far as to suggest that Israel has not apologized properly and has not given its commitment not to use Canadian passports.
When he addresses Israeli audiences, however, Spector appears to justify the use of Canadian passports. For instance, he told the Jerusalem Post that Canada's reaction to the passport fiasco raises questions as to Prime Minister Chrétien's commitments made at the Sharm el-Shaikh anti-terrorism summit in March 1996. He also pointed out that Canadian passports were used to rescue U.S. diplomats from Tehran in the 1980s. "If Israel had asked Canada for permission to use its passports in an anti-Hamas operation, would it have complied?" Spector asked rhetorically to the Jerusalem Post. "Is Canada with us or against us?"
Some observers, including the Toronto Star, are calling on the government to order a parliamentary inquiry into Spector's allegations. The Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC), a watchdog agency set up to monitor the activities of CSIS, has asked CSIS to respond to the allegations. If Spector's allegations that CSIS participated in "overt" operations with the Mossad are true, notes Ron Atkey, a former head of the SIRC, the CSIS has acted illegally.
Mossad's Use of Canadian Passports Quickly Forgiven
By John Dirlik
The use of forged Canadian passports by Israeli agents in their September assassination attempt on a Hamas leader in Jordan initially prompted a stern rebuke from Ottawa. In an unprecedented move, Canada's ambassador to Israel, David Berger, was recalled home, and his Israeli counterpart was called in by senior foreign affairs officials to express Canada's anger.
"We take great exception to the use of the reputation of Canadian passports for these sorts of things," said Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy, who said Canada did not rule out other "options" like economic sanctions and imposing visa requirements on Israeli visitors. "Let's come to a clear understanding that it will not be done again," Axworthy said. "And I want some satisfaction on that before Mr. Berger will return."
But despite the tough talk, less than a week later the foreign minister announced in the House of Commons that he accepted what he called a letter of "apology" from his counterpart, Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy, paving the way for the return of Ambassador Berger to the Jewish state. Axworthy refused to table the letter or divulge its contents, citing diplomatic protocol. "The [Israeli] minister first apologized for the fact that any misuse of our passports may have caused inconvenience or problems of safety for any Canadian citizens," said Axworthy. "Second, [Levy] agreed that Israel now undertake measures to ensure it will never happen again."
Opposition leaders in Ottawa expressed dissatisfaction with Levy's response, especially after a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Minister said that the letter was not a "direct apology" but rather an "expression of regret." Preston Manning of the Reform Party said Levy's remarks were "unacceptable to Canada" and urged Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to press Netanyahu for a clear and unequivocal position. The harshest rebuke came from NDP leader Alexa McDonough, who complained that "our Canadian passport has become the passport of preference for international terrorists." She said that it's "puzzling" the prime minister was not demanding an "absolute assurance" that Israel will never again "rip off Canadian passports for terrorist purposes."
Responding to charges that Israel's actions compromised the safety of Canadians in the Middle East, Axworthy insisted he had made it clear to Arab nations that the passports were forgeries and that Canada had no involvement whatsoever in the operation.
That reassurance did not satisfy some Canadians working in the area, who have reported being accosted by suspicious Jordanians. "It's not the governments I have to deal with," said Ann Kindrachuck, a consultant for the Canada Fund. "It's regular people...who just know that somehow Canada was involved in this affair. They are not going to pick up the finer points of statements in Ottawa about forged documents. All they know is that a group of people with Canadian passports have been found to be Israeli agents."
The Israeli letter was not a "direct apology" but rather an "expression of regret."
Sandra Ballantyne, a physiotherapist in the West Bank, put it this way. "I think Israel treated Canada like dirt here...If they're going to go around killing people, they have no right to get us involved in their filth."
Both Canadians said their safety was further jeopardized when Norman Spector, a former Canadian ambassador to Israel, speculated there was Canadian complicity in the forged passport affair. Spector who, like current Ambassador Berger, is Jewish, is the publisher of the Jerusalem Post. He charged that the Canadian government has known for years its passports were being used by Mossad, but chose to "turn a blind eye" because it receives valuable information from Mossad such as background checks on would-be immigrants.
"You have to pay for that information, primarily by trading information," Spector said. "Canada doesn't have much information to share, and so it had to get involved in joint operations." Spector conceded, however, that Canadian officials would not have been aware that forged passports would be used in any assassination attempt.
The incident in Amman was not the first time that Israeli agents have been caught using Canadian passports. The first time was in Lillehammer, Norway, when Israeli agents shot to death a Moroccan waiter they mistook for a Palestinian they believed was involved in the 1972 killing of Israeli athletes in Munich. At that time Canada sought—and received—assurances from Israel that its passports would not be used again.
Satisfactory Assurances?
At a news conference in Jerusalem, Axworthy and Levy were asked by reporters why Canada should believe Israel's pledges now when it had not kept them in the past. Axworthy responded he was satisfied with Israel's assurances because they have been translated into "specific actions," referring to Levy's promise that Israel would hold an inquiry on the Amman affair.
For his part, Levy avoided the question and instead cited Israel's "unique situation" as a country plagued by terrorist attacks. Seeming to imply that Canada had not done enough to fight terrorism, Levy said that "We repeatedly turn to governments to prevent the capacity of these [organizations] from acting against us, but we are not always successful, and we are sometimes forced to take our own actions to protect our own citizens."
In the meantime, Canada's ambassador to Israel was back at his post, saying it's time to resume "business as usual." Speaking to reporters on his arrival at Ben-Gurion Airport, David Berger said, "We consider the matter closed."
Faisal Kutty is a Toronto-based lawyer and free-lance writer.
John Dirlik, a free-lance writer based in Quebec, writes on Canadian and Middle Eastern affairs.
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