60% say Mossad killed al-Mabhouh

1/4 of respondents would let spy agency use their identities, poll says.

By FELICITY KAY
Mabhouh 311 (photo credit: Associated Press)
Mabhouh 311
(photo credit: Associated Press)
Sixty percent of Israelis believe the Mossad was behind the January killing of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel, a new research poll has found.
Of the 528 Israelis questioned in the poll – conducted last week by Keevoon Research in association with Mutagim – 20% refused to give any opinion, and 20% expressed a belief that Israel was not responsible. Within this bracket, 69% of secular Israelis, and 78% of those earning a higher income, believed the Mossad was indeed responsible.
In addition, 54% of those questioned condemned the Mossad’s alleged use of foreign passports without permission, and only 31% supported it. Of the respondents, 42% of men and 21% of women backed such a policy; 69% of modern Orthodox respondents and 49% of haredi respondents said they opposed it.
A similar trend was apparent when participants were asked whether, if personally approached, they would grant the Mossad permission to use their identities in an overseas operation: Only 26% of respondents replied that they would, of which 38% were men and 16% women. However, 61% said they would refuse.
“The Dubai assassination was a major news item in Israel for weeksand prompted a lot of public debate about the Mossad and its methods,”stated Mitchell Barak, founder and CEO of Keevoon Research. “WhileIsraelis believe their government was responsible for the killing, theytake objection to the method of using unsuspecting citizens’ identitiesin order to succeed.”
He added, “In a digital age where onlinesocial networks and information retrieval are an integral part of ourdaily lives, stealing someone’s identity to break the law can have aprofound negative impact on their future personal and professionalprospects.”