The governments of Australia and the other nations whose citizens' identities were used - Britain, Ireland, France and Germany - have all issued strong diplomatic protests at the misappropriation, though without directly accusing Israel of responsibility for it. The diplomatic niceties were preserved in Foreign Minister Stephen Smith's judiciously phrased statement that ''If the results of that investigation [by ASIO and the Australian Federal Police] cause us to come to the conclusion that the abuse of Australian passports was sponsored or condoned by Israeli officials, then Australia would not regard that as the act of a friend''.
Nor should it. The question, however, is whether Israel recognises any obligation to comply with the legal and ethical standards prescribed by the international community for the use of travel documents, and whether, in the case of countries such as Australia, Israel is willing to reciprocate the loyal friendship and diplomatic support they have shown towards the Jewish state since its foundation. The insouciant attitude that Israel's government has adopted to the diplomatic row over the identity thefts suggests, on the contrary, that Israel regards itself as bound by no such obligations, and is constrained only by a need to defer to nations whose friendship is too important to alienate. It is noteworthy that no American passports were used in the Dubai operation.