Dubai: Any proven official Israeli involvement in the assassination of Mahmoud Al Mabhouh will automatically implicate Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel does not carry out assassinations abroad without the approval of the prime minister, a terrorism and security expert said.
Dr Mustafa Al Ani, director of security and terrorism studies at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre, said that following the mistaken killing of a Moroccan man in Norway by Mossad in 1973, Israel had implemented checks that transfered the political risk of such operations to the highest executive official, the prime minister.
"Israelis classify foreign assassinations in three categories, all of which need approval from the prime minister. Those are operations carried out in hostile countries, neutral countries and friendly countries. The UAE would be considered a neutral country," he said.
He added, however, that there was little the UAE could do to bring the assassins to justice. "There is no legal obligation [for Israel] to extradite [Israelis involved]."
Unlike previous cases when Israel had to accept accountability, Al Mabhouh's killing has not been acknowledged by Israel as the handiwork of its spy agency.
"Europe will make a lot of noise about this and reduce intelligence cooperation, and Britain will encourage its citizens [whose identities were stolen] to take legal action against Israel individually," Al Ani said.
