Ireland not to recall passports following Mossad forgeries

Forged passports

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The government of Ireland has decided against recalling millions of passports issued before 2005, following the discovery of several forged Irish passports used by Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. At least seven of the Mossad operatives who took part in last January’s assassination of senior Hamas military official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, used forged Irish passports to enter and exit the United Arab Emirates. An official investigation into the affair by the Irish government uncovered an extensive Israeli document forgery network in Ireland, and led to the expulsion of an Israeli embassy official from the country. But Irish government officials, tired of the long history of forged Irish passports used by intelligence agencies around the world, flirted with the idea of recalling all Irish passports issued before 2005, when sophisticated security features were introduced. However, a report by Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs has concluded that the proposed recall would be costly and impractical. Recalling the over 2.5 million passports issued before 2005 that are still in use would cost Irish taxpayers upwards of €40 million ($50,6 million), says the report. Moreover, replacing the passports over a short period would overload the Department’s work by at least four years, and would lead to a huge spike in passport renewal applications in 10 years’ time, when the replaced passports will all expire almost at once. It therefore appears that the Irish have decided to put up with forgeries of their passports by foreign spy services for a few more years, until all Irish passports issued before 2005 gradually expire. When that time comes, the identity documentation departments of the Mossad and other similar agencies will have to look at countries other than Ireland for their needs.