Israeli General Refused NZ Visa
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Israel's Deputy Chief of Staff Major-General Gabi Ashkenazi has been refused entry to New Zealand, where he was due to attend a meeting of the United Israel Appeal in Auckland last Sunday. An NZ Foreign Office spokesman confirmed that a visa had been refused, linking the decision to the unresolved diplomatic row over the conviction of two suspected Mossad members, Uri Kelman and Eli Cara, who attempted to fraudulently obtain a New Zealand passport - New Zealand is awaiting an official apology. Jews in New Zealand are particularly upset, as t
Israel's Deputy Chief of Staff Major-General Gabi Ashkenazi has been refused entry to New Zealand, where he was due to attend a meeting of the United Israel Appeal in Auckland last Sunday.
An NZ Foreign Office spokesman confirmed that a visa had been refused, linking the decision to the unresolved diplomatic row over the conviction of two suspected Mossad members, Uri Kelman and Eli Cara, who attempted to fraudulently obtain a New Zealand passport - New Zealand is awaiting an official apology.
Jews in New Zealand are particularly upset, as the Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi visited New Zealand in August for talks with the NZ Government. Iran's stated goals include the destruction of Israel.
A spokesman for General Ashkenazi's office in Tel Aviv perferred to say that the general had decided not to visit New Zealand "for personal reasons", rather than admit to the denied visa.
Sources & reporting note
Licensed archive reporting by Wikinews contributors. Text: Public domain (https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews:Copyright). Original source date retained. 411 has not independently verified this archive report.
Read the source: Wikinews ↗Source published 15 Mar 2005, 05:30 am IST
