asio tricked on hawke plot

ASIO 'tricked on Hawke plot' By Peter Veness
January 01, 2007 02:15pm

AUSTRALIA'S spy agency was tricked by Israel into believing Bob Hawke was the target of a Palestinian assassination plot, the former Palestinian ambassador to Australia said today.

Cabinet documents from 30 years ago released today, Bob Hawke, then Labor Party and ACTU President, faced the possibility of assassination at the hands of Palestinian militants for his strong pro-Israel views.

But former Palestinian ambassador for Australia and the South Pacific Ali Kazak says the whole plot was designed by the Israeli spy agency Mossad and accepted without investigation by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).

“It has never been the intention of Palestine to bring this (Middle East) conflict to Australia and we made this clear to ASIO,” Mr Kazak said today.

“This was part of Mossad's campaign against Palestine.”

Mr Hawke has not returned calls today.

While Mr Kazak agreed ASIO had to take every possible threat seriously he accused the spy agency of never questioning the details of Mossad's information.

“ASIO have a job to do, it's got to take everything seriously but they were taken for a ride and accepted because that allowed them a bigger budget and more power.”

The cabinet papers also show that ASIO believed pro-Palestinian terrorists had a clear operational interest in Australia and that had been demonstrated by visits from militants.

In September 1973, Abdulhamid Abdulla Azzam, a member of the military wing of Al Fatah – then the principal Palestinian terrorist group – visited Melbourne. He was arrested on his way out, charged with immigration offences and subsequently deported.

Mr Kazak said the arrest of Azzam could be explained easily.

“Because Palestinians don't have their own passports we have to travel on other passports ... it was not a false passport, it was a real passport ... there was nothing secret about his visit.”

Mossad, Mr Kazak said, had had a foothold in Australia since then.

“We all know that Mossad is operating in Australia.

“They have been operating out of Sydney for more than 10 years.”

The last public noise made by Mossad in the south Pacific was when New Zealand jailed two alleged Israeli spies for falsely trying to obtain New Zealand passports.