Gang leaders defer to jailed Israelis says paper

By BRIDGET CARTER

The two men at the centre of the Israeli spy scandal are being given "unbelievable respect" in prison and gang leaders defer to them, the Jerusalem Post has reported.

Eli Cara, 50, and Uriel Kelman are serving their six-month jail terms in Auckland's Mt Eden Prison for attempting to fraudulently obtain a New Zealand passport.

The Post reported being told by a senior New Zealand source that the two men were sharing a cell, with a television and stereo system. Both were regular users of the prison library.

He said they were both fine and comfortable, mixed freely within the jail and appeared to enjoy a special status among prisoners, who included some of the toughest gang members.

The source said the gang leaders were at the top of the prison hierarchy, but that they deferred to the Israelis.

"I don't know whether it's their religion or who they are, but the Israelis are given unbelievable respect by other prisoners."

A Corrections spokesman confirmed that access to television, stereo and library was not unusual. However, she would not comment on the prisoners' wellbeing and contact with other inmates.

A Canterbury University criminologist, Associate Professor Greg Newbold, said he expected the reports to be accurate.

Gang leaders would see the pair as terrorists and therefore as people of power and mystery.

"Gang leaders do have a special status in prison because of their power and these guys are part of one of the biggest gangs in the world, Mossad."

Professor Newbold said it would be the same as for those convicted of the Rainbow Warrior bombing in the 1980s or if these men were part of an organisation like the IRA.

Cara and Kelman admitted their role in attempting to obtain a false passport for a third man, former Israeli Zev William Barkan, but have appealed against their convictions. Barkan left the country in March and is wanted by police.