Australia sends Israeli home after NZ spy case

The controversial Mossad spy case is again in the spotlight after Australia secretly forced a senior Israeli diplomat to leave.

Speculation is mounting there may be some connection between the diplomat's sudden departure and last year's scandal in which two alleged Mossad agents were arrested in New Zealand.

Last year Uriel Kelman, 31, and Eli Cara, 51, were sentenced to six months prison and ordered to pay $100,000 to the Cerebral Palsy Society for fraudulently trying to obtain a passport.

Though both men denied being spies, Prime Minister Helen Clark and Foreign Minister Phil Goff said there were "very strong grounds" to believe the men were acting for Israel's intelligence services.

Both men have since been deported.

The case is again in the news after the Sydney Morning Herald said the effective expulsion of the Canberra-based diplomat - described as a consul in Israel - was covered up for several weeks.

But it said the matter had come to light in a report in the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv.

The Sydney Morning Herald said inquiries about the story last night were met by "no comment" from the Australian Government.

Ma'ariv speculated there might be some connection with last year's spy scandal in New Zealand.

The Sydney Morning Herald said a source close to the Israeli cabinet suggested the reason for the incident must have been serious, given the friendly relations between the two countries.

The paper said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said if Israel did not withdraw its diplomat voluntarily, steps would be taken to declare him persona non grata and to initiate proceedings for his deportation. In response, the Israeli Foreign Ministry instructed the diplomat to pack his bags and return home immediately.