Israeli agents set to make a quick exit

Israeli secret agents Eli Cara and Uri Kelman are due to be released today from prison and immediately leave New Zealand.

The Government is still waiting for an apology from their Government.

The two men were each sentenced to six months in jail in July for trying to fraudulently obtain a New Zealand passport.

No official announcement has been made about their release, but it is understood they will be freed from Mt Eden Prison today. They are expected to be served with deportation orders and leave.

The Israeli Government has never acknowledged their status, but Prime Minister Helen Clark said after they were sentenced that they were intelligence agents.

The Government demanded an apology from Israel, suspended high-level official visits and delayed the appointment of Israel's new Australia ambassador to also cover New Zealand.

Helen Clark said yesterday she was still waiting for an apology, and the diplomatic sanctions would stay until she got one.

"We don't like having to take the sort of measures we did take against a country we've had friendly relations with," she told One News.

Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff said in July the dispute between the two countries could not be resolved until the Israeli Government explained itself and apologised.

Cara and Kelman pleaded guilty to the charges against them, and Mr Goff said six months' imprisonment, of which they would serve only two months, was "relatively light punishment".

- NZPA