A guest post by AKUS
There seems to be no real news from Israel these days of any import. Oh, the Guardian will scratch up a little article about a tent city in Tel Aviv and try to connect it to the Arab disaster – I mean, Arab Spring – but otherwise – nothing of any importance.
You have to go to the end of the world, literally, to get a taste of the utter lunacy of anti-Israeli – not to mention clear indications of anti-Semitic – attitudes. We’ve had Mossad sharks, Mossad vultures, Mossad hit teams in Dubai – now we have wild accusations worthy of any Arab country of a clandestine Mossad team operating in New Zealand to … do … well, none of the Hobbits down there seems to know exactly what.
The New Zealand Herald is running column after column of “revelations” (“nzherald.co.nz will keep across the latest developments” – whatever that means), and a running blog on “developments” (there are not any, of course – the story has broken months after the earthquake) in true Guardian style, based on a breathless report by a local paper called “The Southland Times” (and I doubt one can get any more “southern” than that) that one of the Israelis killed in the Christchurch earthquake carried five (or four, or more than five) passports and three Israelis that survived shortly left the country. There is even a Guardian-style video clip of the NZ PM, John Keys, clumsily refusing to discuss the matter on the grounds of “national security”! 78% of the Herald’s readers seem to believe that Israeli is running spies in NZ for who knows what purpose!
The basis for the belief that the four were Mossad agents and there was some threat to New Zealand’s security (who knew that NZ has security issues?) appears to be derived from the following long set of conspiratorial leaps:
1. The Israeli who was crushed to death in the earthquake, Binyamin Mizrahi, was found to have five (or maybe four or maybe more than five) passports on him. The fact that it is not illegal to have multiple passports seems to cut no ice with the NZ Herald and some of its readers who commented on the issue, or some politicians.
Green Party MP Keith Locke has called for the New Zealand Police and SIS to make public their assessment of whether Mossad agents have been operating in New Zealand and whether security has been compromised.
“We need to know why a young Israeli, Benyamin Mizrahi, killed in the Christchurch earthquake, was carrying five or more passports, and whether he was assessed to be a Mossad agent,” said Locke.
Even more suspiciously for the paranoid sheep herders of NZ, sometimes the papers refer to the dead Israeli as Binyamin Mizrahi, and sometime Ofer Mizrahi and sometime Ofer Binyamin Mizrahi – who needs more proof than THAT??
2. The three Israelis traveling with Mizrahi who survived when the car they were in was crushed and Mizrahi was killed – left the country. Or, as the NZ Herald prefers to sensationalize it, “quickly fled the country within 12 hours of the quake.” Apparently what is really suspicious is they left soon after surviving the earthquake. One wonders what they were supposed to do – carry on with their trip and visit the sights? If they had stayed on a week or so, shell-shocked from the earthquake, with all their possessions destroyed – would this have allayed the Kiwis’ suspicions and fears?
3. Benjamin Netanyahu called the NZ PM several times to inquire after the fate of the then missing Israelis, and offer condolences. Apparently, had he only called once, or never, this would have been considered normal, but calling four times (only getting through to PM John Key once according to Key) and his concern for missing Israelis is a strong indication that the Israelis were Mossad agents. To allay the Hobbits’ fears Netanyahu should have exhibited the callousness of PMs and Presidents of other countries who apparently never bothered to try to find out what happened to their citizens.
4. Israel swiftly sent in a team of trained search and rescue experts. This too, is considered to be a clear admission that the Israelis were Mossad agents, and the team was there for some nefarious purpose. It could not possibly be another example of Israeli’s willingness to provide speedy assistance even unto the ends of the earth when speed is of the essence to save lives. Had the team delayed for a few weeks till there was no hope of rescuing anyone, apparently this might have allayed the small-town fears of the New Zealand population . Or, as we have learned from Haiti, no good Israeli deed goes unpunished.
5. Moreover, the team was not “accredited“ as it was sent by concerned Israeli parents and members were found risking their lives in the most dangerous area of Christchurch called the Red Zone. What could be clearer than that as an example of Israelis seeking to find missing Mossad agents in Christchurch? If they had stayed in the safe areas, perhaps we could assume that they would not have been searching for Mossad agents who, for all the NZ Herald seems to know, may have triggered the earthquake with a pocket-sized nuclear device in order to destroy Christchurch.
6. The report initially claimed that the Israel search and rescue team was firmly evicted from the Red Zone by New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service when “the activities of several Israelis in the aftermath of the quake raised the suspicions of the Security Intelligence Service (SIS)”. Except that now the NZ Defence Force has denied the whole story:
“The New Zealand Defence Force has denied that SAS troops were issued ammunition and deployed into the Christchurch Earthquake “red zone” in connection with an unaccredited Israeli rescue squad.”
Of course, like the denials that the Twin Towers were brought down by the Mossad, this will only reinforce the conspiracy nuts’ belief that in fact the Mossad was operating there, and that the NZDF is really nothing but a local branch of the IDF. All we are missing is for the NZ equivalent of Baroness Tonge to claim the Israeli teams was there to harvest Kiwi organs and the story will be complete.
7. Next there is a claim that the Israelis infiltrated NZ police files for some unknown and therefore deeply suspicious purpose. Green Party MP Locke again:
“We also need more information as to why the SIS thought the Police computer may have been compromised.”
Clearly this lunatic believes that Israel has a deep interest the files of the NZ police force. But perhaps not everyone in New Zealand shares his belief. For example – the editor of the paper that who broke the story back-pedaled:
9.18am Fred Tulett, the editor of the Southland Times, told Radio New Zealand’s Morning Report the SIS investigation was based on “suspicion, rather than certainty.”
“My information is that … the SIS later became suspicious that they could have had the opportunity to access the police national computer. So they organised an audit of the computer system to find out whether or not they could find anything embedded in that. Again, it’s suspicion, rather than certainty.”
But Mr. Tullet feels no need to stop the presses such for a “suspicion”. Sadly for him, shortly afterwards we have:
10.55am New Zealand police have issued the following press release regarding reports the police national computer may have been accessed by Mossad:
NZ Police is confident its computer systems and the information stored in them are secure.
Acting Chief Information Officer Murray Mitchell says police systems are subject to regular security audits and intrusion checks.
… we are confident that our data and network were not compromised during the Christchurch Earthquake response or subsequently,” Mr. Mitchell said.
8. But the clincher is the clear belief expressed in the usual coded fashion in below-the-line comments of the global Jewish conspiracy and that PM John Key, whose mother was an Austrian Jew who fled to New Zealand, is in the pocket of the Israel and its stooge, the USA thanks to his Jewish heritage. The NZ Herald claims to moderate its BTL comments- but you be the judge of the following excerpts and clips:
“But he’s [John Keys] in the States at the moment and doesn’t want to upset one of Israel’s staunchest allies. You’re meant to be New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Mr Key, not a puppet.
“Well said. It’s about time more New Zealnders realised that John Key is a puppet of those with connections and does not represent the honestly of the everyday kiwi.”
“So given these facts yes, I am concerned that there’s a likelihood of Israeli spies (Mossad agents) infiltrating New Zealand, thereby threatening our security as a sovereign nation, particularly as one Israeli killed in Christchurch in February, was found to have five passports in his possession!”
Since not all Kiwis are mad, in fairness let me end with this comment, which pretty much sums up the whole thing:
