Australia officer stripped of security clearance over 'Israel' loyalty
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The soldier, anonymized as HWMW, obtained access to secret documents in 2008 and was given access to top-secret documents in 2010, 6 years after he joined the Australian defense force.
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The Australian flag flies in front of Australian and Philippine troops during opening ceremonies for army-to-army bilateral exercises called "Kasangga" at Camp General Mateo M. Capinpin, Tanay, Rizal province, Philippines, on Monday, May 15, 2023 (AP)
An officer in the Australian defense force was stripped of his security clearance on Tuesday after the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) grew concerned that the soldier was more loyal to "Israel" than Australia and was at risk of being exploited by the Mossad.
The soldier, anonymized as HWMW, is Jewish and served 19 years in the Australian defense force, told ASIO investigators that he did not view the occupation as a foreign government and that he would hand over classified information to them if they asked him to.
HWMW also concealed information regarding training courses he undertook in "Israel" including self-defense, security, and firearms training, during his visits to the occupied territories in 2016 and 2019 as part of the Community Security Group training (CSG).
The administrative review tribunal published ASIO's decision regarding the soldier, which stated that he was not “of appropriate and trustworthiness to hold any security clearance," adding that “HWMW is vulnerable to influence or coercion to enable acts of espionage or foreign interference by Israeli Intelligence Services due to his loyalty to Israel."
The decision reads: “By virtue of HWMW’s demonstrated poor judgment, poor security practices, failure to comply with the obligations of a security clearance holder, his vulnerability to influence or coercion by the Israeli Intelligence Services, and HWMW’s demonstrated loyalty to Israel above the Australian government, ASIO assesses if HWMW were to continue to hold any level of security clearance, he would pose an unacceptable and avoidable risk to security.”
HWMW joined the Australian defence force in 2004. In 2008, he obtained a negative vetting 1 security clearance – allowing access to classified resources up to Secret. This was upgraded to negative vetting 2 – Top Secret access – in 2010.
The courses HWMW undertook in "Israel" were organized by the Ami-Ad organization, which receives funding from the Israeli government. Instructors of the courses were former members of the Israeli security agency (Shin Bet).
He said he believed the training courses were a “natural recruiting pool” for the Mossad.
However, in 2023, the director-general of security issued an ASIO “adverse security assessment” on the officer recommending revoking his security clearance to which HWMW responded by appealing against the decision to the tribunal.
The Australian officer told ASIO, "Zionism is an essential theme within Judaism. Judaism mandates the loyalty of a Jew to his people and to the Land of Israel."
HWMW claimed that most Australian Jews do not volunteer in the Australian defense force, preferring to volunteer in the Israeli occupation army, while he, as per his claims, volunteered in the ADF due to a "strong sense of belonging to Australia and I wanted to give back to the country and demonstrate the importance of serving here in Australia as opposed to the IDF."
“It seems that events have now turned on me.”
He further claimed in his interviews that the mere purpose of his travels to "Israel" was "community leadership" courses.
He said that he "provided a truth, it’s not the full truth… it was only to save myself from interrogation and questioning" and attributed his failure to disclose information regarding the CSG courses to "an error" on his part, adding that he would provide the full information if he could.
