WELLINGTON, July 5: Israel has offered no explanation for why two men, allegedly members of Israel's secret service agency Mossad, were in New Zealand, Prime Minister Helen Clark told reporters on Monday.

Two Israelis, Uriel Zoshe Kelman, 30, and Eli Cara, 40, pleaded guilty on Friday in Auckland's High Court to charges which included attempting to obtain a New Zealand passport and participating in an organized crime group to obtain a false passport.

Media reports quoting unnamed government officials alleged the men, arrested on March 23 after police covertly followed them when they were arranging to pick up a passport they had fraudulently applied for, were Israeli secret agents.

Most of the details of the case were suppressed in court ahead of sentencing on July 15. They face a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment. Clark, who at the time of the arrests said New Zealand would make a "strong and public response" after the case has gone through court, was reluctant Monday to discuss it.

She said no explanation was given when Associate Foreign Affairs Minister Jim Sutton called on Canberra-based acting Israeli ambassador Orna Sagiv. "None has been forthcoming" since, Clark said. Nothing more would be said until after sentencing, she said. -AFP

Opinion

Editorial

Trumpian purge
Updated 27 Jan, 2025

Trumpian purge

For Trump and his MAGA support base, these moves are necessary to preserve what they view as the American way of life.
World Bank’s view
27 Jan, 2025

World Bank’s view

PAKISTAN is at a critical point. Inconsistent and poor economic policies of the past have had an adverse impact on...
Learning losses
27 Jan, 2025

Learning losses

WHEN thermometers in Lahore hit 48°C last May, it led to closures across the region. From Dhaka to Manila, some ...
Gag orders
Updated 26 Jan, 2025

Gag orders

Coercive policies must be abandoned for constitutional freedoms to be inviolable.
Murder on the seas
26 Jan, 2025

Murder on the seas

IT is time Pakistan asserted itself more forcefully and played a bigger role in busting international human...
A free lunch
26 Jan, 2025

A free lunch

THE federal government appears to have gone back on its word to rescind the facility of free electricity for both...