Israeli agents forced to face music

By BERNARD ORSMAN

In courtroom 15 yesterday, Urie Kelman spent all 125 minutes in the dock hiding his face with his right hand, hunched forward to hide more of his small frame from the cameras.

On his right, Eli Cara sat upright with a staring look to face the consequences.

It was the third public court appearance for the two Israelis, who have taken different tacks to revealing their identities.

Cara, 51, initially hid his face behind a raincoat but after many appearances in the media he faced the court.

Not Kelman. The 31-year-old first appeared in court in April as a slim man with freckles, short red hair and glasses.

Two weeks ago he had dramatically changed his appearance. After wearing a balaclava to plead guilty in court, he appeared in the dock with a black beard, black hair and a dark suit.

The decision by Justice Judith Potter to allow cameras into the High Court at Auckland for yesterday's sentencing presented the photo-shy Kelman with his biggest challenge.

He entered the court with his right hand covering as much of his face as possible and from that point did not drop his guard.

Even when Cara's lawyer, Stuart Grieve, QC, rose to give his submission and reminded Justice Potter that the 15 minutes allowed for filming the accused was up, Kelman kept his cover.

According to Mr Grieve and Kelman's lawyer, Grant Illingworth, QC, the men's exposure in the international media made them targets for terrorists groups, even though they were nothing more than decent, hard-working Israelis with squeaky clean records.

They gave no explanation over why their clients went off the rails on this one occasion and took part in an organised crime group to unlawfully obtain a New Zealand passport with two other men, who avoided capture.

Justice Potter said the motive was unclear.

Prime Minister Helen Clark, however, was in no doubt the two were Israeli spies, but that was not the picture painted by their lawyers.

Mr Grieve said Cara was a devoted family man with five children, one of whom had severe learning and functional difficulties and who was suffering depression from being separated from him.

Cara left high school in 1972 and joined the Israeli Air Force as part of compulsory military service and became a pilot. He left the Air Force in 1995, gained two degrees, including a Master of Business Administration, and worked for an eco-tourism company, Eastward Bound.

Mr Grieve said in 2001 Cara went to Sydney with his wife and four of his children, where he established a branch of Eastward Bound to bring Israeli tourists to Australia and New Zealand.

Herald inquiries showed the travel agency Cara is alleged to operate does not exist, or if it does, it is operating illegally.

Mr Illingworth said Kelman was a single man with a Bachelor in Natural Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. After his military service he was employed in marketing where he was considered an industrious and loyal worker. Like Cara, Kelman had a relative - his father - whose health was suffering as a result of his son's incarceration on the other side of the world.

The Israeli police confirmed that neither accused had a criminal record.

A retired judge of the Tel Aviv District Court spoke highly of Cara and his devotion to his family.

Cara's brother, Reuben Cara, said his own son had been killed in an incident involving terrorists while in the Israeli Defence Force, and Eli Cara had been a huge support.

A rabbi in Jerusalem spoke about Kelman's devotion to family and friends and his honesty.