When Rabbi Michael Bodenheimer made aliya with his family, he could not have
imagined that one day he would be entangled in a web of international
espionage.
Originally from the United States, Bodenheimer currently
resides in Bnei Brak and reportedly heads a kollel in Modi’in Illit. A woman
identifying herself as his wife spoke to
The Jerusalem Post briefly on Sunday,
saying the family had been surprised to see Bodenheimer’s name linked to the
assassination of Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
“We’re not very
excited that my husband’s name has been used in this way, but it doesn’t make
any difference now,” the woman told the
Post. “What has been done has been done,
and we have no other comment besides that.”
According to foreign media
reports, an Israeli secured a German passport in June 2009 under the name of
Michael Bodenheimer. As the son of a pre-war Jewish citizen of Germany, he is
entitled to a German passport and citizenship.
However, when the Dubai
story originally broke, Bodenheimer told
Maariv that he had made no such
requests.
“I have never asked for a German passport. I have never had
one,” he said.
On Saturday, Poland arrested an intelligence officer by
the name of Uri Brodsky for his alleged use of “false information” to
obtain
Bodenheimer’s passport, according to a spokesman for the German federal
public
prosecutor.
While Brodsky was not the individual who allegedly travelled
with Bodenheimer’s German passport to Dubai, he had been present during
the
passport application process, according to the spokesman.
Bodenheimer is
not the only victim of what is alleged to have been identity theft by
the
Mossad. British-Israelis Melvyn Adam Mildiner, Stephen Hodes and Paul
John
Keeley also found their names among the 11-member squad of Mossad
agents, as
released by Dubai police, that allegedly carried out the assassination
last
January in Dubai.
Mildiner, who lives in Beit Shemesh, told Ynet in
February that he realized his identity had been stolen only after
reading media
reports. He said he was deeply troubled by the news.
“Everyone [from his
family] is angry and afraid, especially at the prospect of having
trouble
leaving Israeli borders,” he said.
“I also don’t know what are the other
repercussions concerning my identity.”
Jewish Agency spokesman Michael
Jankelowitz denied that the Israeli government asks olim to use their
identities.
“No such clause exists,” he said.