Tensions Grow as Israel Maintains ‘Official Ambiguity’ on Dubai Assassination

Britain Summons Israeli Envoy for Explanation

Israel is facing a backlash at home and abroad over the January assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai. Though it has yet to be proven, evidence is mounting that Israel’s Mossad agency was responsible for the killing.

But officially, Israel has not and will not confirm its role in the assassination, and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has expressed what can only be described as “faux confusion” over why everyone, even most Israelis, are assuming the hit was the latest in a long line of Mossad assassinations.

Britain in particular is up in arms over the calling, as members of the hit squad used forged British passports containing data stolen from Britons who were in Israel at the time.

Today, the British Foreign Office summoned the Israeli ambassador to seek an explanation, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown is calling for a full police investigation into the assassination.

Dubai police have maintained that they would issue an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if a Mossad link is proven. Calls inside Israel are mounting for Mossad’s chief to resign over the incident. Though the Netanyahu government is hoping to stick with a policy of “official ambiguity,” it seems this will have little to no impact on the story continuing on without them.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.