'Mossad continues to use UK passports'

English, French nationals who moved to Israel and joined IDF tell British daily a 'sexy woman' convinced them to lend their passports to Mossad; say passports returned to them a few months later with stamps from countries they never visited

Daniel Bettini|Published: 02.12.12 , 17:41

Some two years after the assassination of senior Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, Mossad agents are still using foreign passports, including those of British nationals, while conducting covert intelligence operations overseas, The Times reported over the weekend.

Following Mabhouh's death, Dubai police authorities revealed that the assassins used British, French, German and Australian passports.

According to the British newspaper, there have been several occasions when foreigners who immigrated to Israel have been asked to "lend" their passports to the Israeli intelligence agency.

The daily said new evidence indicates that foreign nationals in Israel continue to allow Mossad to use their passports — "on many occasions willingly."

Though it never admitted that Mossad agents were behind the Hamas terrorist's death, Israel assured London its intelligence agency would stop using British passports.

"Matthew," who moved to Israel from London in 2009 and joined the IDF shortly afterwards, told The Times that just before his first week of army duty he was approached by a young woman from Mossad and asked if he was "committed to the State of Israel."

"She was really, really friendly. She gave me a recommendation of a good bar in Tel Aviv, and her favorite place for hummus," he said.

When she asked if Matthew was willing to do "a small thing to help", such as, for example, lend his passport, he did not refuse, The Times reported.

He said: "She pointed out that I wouldn’t need it for the next year or so. I’d be doing basic training and everything for the army. So I said 'yes’ — I was in that frame of mind of strong Zionism, you know?"

According to the report, Matthew received his passport back after 18 months of army service, and was surprised to find stamps in it from Turkey and Azerbaijan, countries that he had never visited.

"She told me it would maybe be a good idea not to go there . . . for the time being," he told the British newspaper.

"Peter," a Frenchman who moved to Israel last year, revealed a similar story. A few months after arriving in Israel and volunteering for IDF service, he began meeting "a sexy woman, who asked me if I wanted to help her.”

He told The Times his passport was also taken, and returned a year later with stamps from Russia and several other countries "I couldn’t read."

"All of sudden I was like, ‘oh!’ But it was important work, I think," he told the daily.