Israeli Ambassador to the UK Ron Proser was summoned by the British Foreign Office on Monday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday morning.
According to the Daily Telegraph he was called in to be told the results of an inquiry into the assassination of Hamas arms trafficker Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.
Several members of the team suspected by Dubai police of killing him were traveling on passports cloned from documents belonging to British citizens living in Israel. Other passports had been stolen from Irish, German, Australian and French citizens.
The Telegraph said speculation was growing that a senior Israeli diplomat would be expelled to signal the “anger” within the government that British passport-holders were put at risk.
A ministerial statement to Parliament will formally name the Israeli security services as responsible for forging up to 15 British passports, which were copied after being taken away by airport officials, according to the Telegraph. Despite teh fact it proved impossible to confirm definitively that the Mossad was involved.
Foreign Office sources expressed frustration that there was little more that could be done to “punish” Israel over the affair.
A number of those whose passports were stolen had dual British and Israeli nationality.