NEW ZEALAND PASSPORTS.In November 2003 two Israelis,
Uriel Kelman (age 30) and Eli Cara (50), arrived in Auckland, New
Zealand, traveling on U.S. and Israeli passports, respectively. On 23
March 2004 the two men were released on bail after being arrested
by the New Zealand police for fraudulently attempting to obtain New
Zealand passports. They were caught after one of them, in applying
for the passports, assumed the identity of a New Zealand citizen who
was wheelchair-bound while he himself was not in a wheelchair. The
two men allegedly were Mossadcase officers. They admitted trying
to obtain fake passports but denied any connection to the Mossad.
The New Zealand authorities believed that two more men were in-
volved in this plot: Ze’ev William Barkan (36), who had left the
country, and a non-Israeli whose name was not known to the New
Zealand authorities but whom they thought was connected to the
Mossad.
The Israeli government did not publicly admit that Kelman and
Cara were Mossad officers, but the case still caused political embar-
rassment that complicated Israeli relations with New Zealand. In July
2004 the two men were found guilty of the charges and were sen-
tenced to six months in prison, a relatively short sentence, after they
changed their plea to guilty. They were also ordered to donate the
equivalent of $50,000 to the Cerebral Palsy Society of New Zealand.
Israeli foreign minister Silvan Shalom commented that Israel would
work to restore cordial diplomatic relations with New Zealand.
The Mossad has a long history of using fake documents and pass-
ports. It is assumed that as part of Israel’s war against Arab terrorists,
Mossad case officers must occasionally visit Islamic countries in the
Far East that harbor terrorists or in which terrorist cells exist. Israeli-
passport holders are generally not admitted to such countries. The
Mossad is also known for having one of the best passport manufac-
turing systems in the world, a system that includes a facility to dupli-
cate the exact chemical formula for the proprietary paper that each
country uses to print its passports, and a library of passport stamps and
signatures. See also KHALED MASH’AL FIASCO.NIGHT OF DUCKS.Epithet for a mobilization exercise of Israel De-
fense Forces (IDF) reservists in April 1959 that went awry. A general
call-up of the reserves was broadcast over Israel Radio, without prior206 • NEW ZEALAND PASSPORTS06-102 (03) H-P.qxd 3/24/06 7:25 AM Page 206