Gross British Hypocrisy

From JPost, 24 March 2010, by HERB KEINON:

While formally Israel responded with reserve on Tuesday to Britain’s decision to expel one of its diplomats over allegations that Israel forged UK passports to carry out the killing of a Hamas commander in Dubai, informally officials in Jerusalem and MKs blasted London for gross hypocrisy.

... Miliband said, and as a way of making clear London’s “deep unhappiness at what has happened, and to seek to ensure this abuse does not happen again,” he has asked that a member of the Israeli Embassy “be withdrawn from the UK as a result of the affair.”

...Miliband’s comments in Parliament came hours before he was scheduled to attend a ceremony marking the rededication of the renovated Israeli Embassy. He canceled his attendance, although other representatives from the Foreign Office were at the reception.

...Officials in Jerusalem said they were “stunned” by Miliband’s “humiliating” speech in Parliament, and that it revealed a great deal of hypocrisy. “This is not the way for a real friend to act,” one official said, saying that the British intelligence services cooperate with the Mossad, and “know how things work.”

The British, the official said, were attacking villages in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting terrorists, yet raking Israel over the coals over alleged passport forgeries. The official, noting that a Hamas spokesman had praised the United Kingdom for its actions, said the message sent by the British move would harm the coalition fighting terrorism.

...One diplomatic official said it was  ...an extremely harsh move that he said the UK generally reserved for the spy wars it has with Russia.

...National Union MK Arye Eldad told Sky News that he believed the British were “behaving hypocritically  ...Who are they to judge us on the war on terror?”

.....This is not the first time that Israel and Britain have had a high-profile dispute over forged passports. In 1987, eight forged British passports were found in a phone booth in Germany, and traced to the Mossad. At the time Israel apologized and vowed not to take similar actions in the future.

The following year, Israel used a Palestinian double agent for espionage activities inside England, a move that infuriated then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who closed the Mossad’s office in London and expelled the head of the office...