New Zealand PM: No indication that Israeli killed in earthquake was a Mossad spy

[Behind the Aegis]

Source: DPA

Reports that an Israeli killed in the New Zealand earthquake in February was an intelligence agent were wrong, Prime Minister John Key said on Wednesday.

The Southland Times reported that an Israeli who was crushed in a van was found with at least five passports and was part of a group suspected of trying to hack into the police computer system.

But Key said an investigation found no evidence linking the group of four Israelis and their country's intelligence service, the Mossad.

"The unusual circumstances which triggered the investigation was the rapid departure from the country of the three surviving members of the group of Israelis in question," Key said.


Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/new-zealand-pm-no-indication-that-israeli-killed-in-earthquake-was-a-mossad-spy-1.374211

---

ETA:

The body of Israeli backpacker, Ofer Mizrahi, was found on Sunday.

Mizrahi, 23, of Kibbutz Magal, was at the wheel of a car carrying three of his friends when the earthquake struck and a concrete girder crushed the vehicle.

Michal Friedman and Liron Sadot, who were sitting in the back seat, managed to crawl out. Guy Yordan broke the passenger seat window and got himself out. But their efforts to get Mizrahi out of the car failed.

Orit Friedman, Michal's sister, said the three were making their way back to Israel.

"Michal sounded excited and stressed. She, Guy Yordan and Liron Sadot are on their way back. They were left with nothing but their passports, which they carried on them. The last time we spoke to her was on Tuesday night when they left Wellington," she said.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/authorities-identify-bodies-of-two-missing-israelis-in-rubble-of-new-zealand-earthquake-1.346415

We saw him die, friends of Israeli missing after New Zealand quake say

Three friends of Ofer Mizrachi, the young Israeli that went missing in New Zealand, returned to Israel on Thursday and spoke of the difficult moments they experienced during the earthquake that struck Christchurch, New Zealand.

Guy Yurdan, Mizrachi's travel mate for the last several months, said he wanted to let all those who are concerned for Mizrachi's life and are hoping for a miracle to know that he is no longer alive.

"He did not suffer, he died on the spot, and his body is awaiting identification," Yurdan said. "New Zealand authorities are delaying the process."

---snip---

Yurdan continued, "As we started to get out of the van, a huge heavy chunk of concrete fell on us. Ofer was in the driver's seat and I was sitting beside him. I saw that the women sitting in the back of the van had gotten out, and then I looked at Ofer and saw that he was hit. I grabbed him and saw that he had head wounds. I realized that he was killed instantly."

According to Yurdan, when the ground stopped shaking, "I broke the window, got out of the van, and called for help, but we were made to leave the area because the nearby building began to collapse. Later we were evacuated to a public park, to a tent of the Red Cross."

Michal Friedman said, "Liron and I arrived in New Zealand on Sunday and met Gal and Ofer after we ended a long tour of Australia. We were very excited and they shared in our excitement."

Friedman continued, "Ofer was very moved and said, 'Now we're starting on a new adventure.' We planned to travel together for one-and-a-half or two months." Of the exact moments of the earthquake, Friedman described them as "a situation in which you have no idea what is transpiring."

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/we-saw-him-die-friends-of-israeli-missing-after-new-zealand-quake-say-1.345438

[aquart]

1. Coulda just been criminals.

[Ruby the Liberal]

2. I would almost think the opposite. Mossad would not leave 5 passports behind.

Nor would CIA or MI5.

[Ex Lurker]

3. Minor point

it would be MI6. MI5 is internal security. I'm OCD enough that if I didn't say something it would bother me all day:toast:

[Ruby the Liberal]

4. Didn't know that. Thanks!

I learned something today.

:toast:

[Poll_Blind]

5. That's what I was thinking. It's not just the Mossad but any intelligence organization would...

...have operatives trained to not cut and run so quickly. What I'm interested in is was the deceased a legitimate holder of those passports? That is an exceptional number of passports to have but it's not unheard of. I have no idea exactly what you have to swing to get 5 passports (presumably from 5 different countries) but if I wanted to I could probably get 2: One from being an American, one from a grandfather from the European Union and if I was Jewish, one from Israel. The jump from 3-5 is pretty big though, again especially for someone so young. But stranger things have happened.

If there was any mischief, it would seem much more likely that these individuals were involved in some criminal venture and not official representatives of a government intelligence agency. But, again, stranger things have happened.

PB

[Behind the Aegis]

6. Read the other two articles I provided.

They didn't "cut and run.' They tried to free their friend and then returned home from a devastated foreign country.

[Violet_Crumble]

8. I agree. There was nothing bizarre in their behaviour...

The only small point I'd make is that New Zealand wasn't devastated by the earthquake. It was the CBD of Christchurch and surrounding suburbs that were devastated. But they were right in the middle of that devastation and must have been traumatised by their friend dying in front of them, and seeing as how even locals were flooding out of Christchurch coz of the fear of major aftershocks, I don't think heading straight home is strange behaviour at all. I know if something like that happened when I were on holidays overseas, I'd be on the first plane I could get home once I knew there was nothing I could do by staying. Also, the original article I first read in Ha'aretz yesterday claimed he was found with five passports on him. He only had two passports, one Israeli and a European one. There's nothing sinister in that. And that original story had something amongst the garishness that I found annoying. They said a memorial Facebook page set up for him only had five Likes as though that was some sort of damning evidence of him being a spy. It's a pretty sad state of affairs where someone's value or innocence is judged on how many posthumous Likes they get on Facebook...

[JackRiddler]

7. Other than five passports and his friends left him there and flew out of the country.,,

"Hello, Mossad? Were these people yours?"

"No."

"Right then, thanks!"

[Fool Count]

9. Basically, he is saying that they didn't find a Mossad-member

ID on his body and Mossad didn't claim him as its own. What other possible "indications" are there?