Mossad’s Murderous Reach: The Larger Political Issues

The recent assassination of Hamas top military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh is consistent with Israel’s traditional policy of extrajudicial killings targeting Palestinian resistance fighters abroad. It raises the fundamental issue of violating the sovereignty of other countries, overriding their laws. Moreover, Israel’s cynical use of dual citizens to achieve its murderous goals, as in this case, also raises the question of allegiance and the extent to which third countries are willing to look the other way to guarantee Israel’s impunity.

On January 19 Israel’s international secret police, the Mossad, sent an eighteen member death squad to Dubai using European passports, supposedly ‘stolen’ from Israeli dual citizens and altered with fake photos and signatures, in order to assassinate the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud al Mabhouh.

The evidence is overwhelming: The Dubai police presentation of detailed security videos of the assassins was corroborated by the testimony of Israeli security experts and applauded by Israel’s leading newspapers and columnists. The Mossad openly stated that Mabhouh was a high priority target who had survived three previous assassination attempts. Israel did not even bother to deny the murder. Furthermore, the sophisticated communication system used by the killers, the logistics and planning surrounding their entry and exit from Dubai and the scope and scale of the operation have all the characteristics of a high-level state operation. Furthermore, only Mossad would have access to the European passports of its dual citizens! Only Mossad would have the capacity, motivation, stated intent and willingness to provoke a diplomatic row with its European allies, knowing full well that Western European governments’ anger would blow over because of their deep links to Israel. After meticulous investigation and the interrogation of 2 captured Palestinian Mossad collaborators, the Dubai police chief has stated he is sure the Mossad was behind the killing.

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