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© UnknownSuspects in Dubai assassination of Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh
According to The Times, new evidence indicates that foreign nationals in Israel willingly allow the Mossad to use their passports in order to carry out undercover operations abroad.

Israeli Mossad spies are still using foreign passports, including those of British nationals, when conducting undercover operations abroad, according to The Times of London.

According to the report, new evidence suggests that foreign nationals in Israel continue to allow the Mossad to use their passports - on many occasions willingly.

The Times article stated that two young men agreed to be interviewed on condition of anonymity - and only once they had had their passports returned. A third man said he had been involved in a similar scheme, but was still serving in the Israeli military and declined to be interviewed.

The Times report revealed several testimonies of Israeli émigrés which ended up giving their passports to the Mossad. "Matthew" first emigrated to Israel after leaving his parents' London home in 2009, and volunteered to join the Israeli military shortly afterwards. It was just before his first week of army duty that he was approached by a young woman from Mossad and asked if he was "committed to the State of Israel."

When she asked if Matthew was willing to do "a small thing to help", such as, for example, lend his passport, he did not refuse.

According to the article, Matthew received his passport back after 18 months of military service, and was surprised to find stamps in it from Turkey and Azerbaijan, countries that he had never visited.

In another testimony to The Times, "Peter," a Frenchman who emigrated to Israel last year, had a similar story. Months after arriving in Israel and volunteering for military service, he began meeting "a sexy woman," who asked him if he wanted to help her. He said his passport was taken and returned a year later with stamps from Russia and several other countries.

According to The Times, illegal use of foreign passports that help Israeli agents travel undercover emerged in January 2010, when Dubai police authorities revealed that British, French, German and Australian passports were used by assassins targeting the senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. At the time, Israel refused to confirm or deny the belief that its own Mossad agents were behind the attack, but responded to the diplomatic furor with assurances that the practice would not continue.