[Australia]: Message to the Israeli Ambassador [SEC=TOP SECRET]

[Owen]

​

PRIME MINISTER​

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET (Encrypted)​

15 July 1999​

Dear Mr. Sofer, I would like to invite you to my office in Parliament House to discuss the ongoing Middle East crisis. I want you to know that the Australian Government stands shoulder to shoulder with Israel and this is something that enjoys bipartisan support. To express this bipartisan support, I have also asked the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. John Howard, to join us in my office to discuss our relationship with Israel. Have it be known that any aggression from Turkey or Saudi Arabia will not be tolerated by this government. It is blatant anti-Semitism we are seeing and since the conclusion of the Second World War we have made an unwavering commitment that never again will the Jewish people have to suffer. You have our full support, but to discuss this more in detail I ask you make your way discreetly to Parliament House. Avoid routes that take you past the Turkish or Saudi Arabian embassies. Yours Sincerely, P.J. Keating.

Parliament House, CANBERRA, ACT 2600 Telephone: (02) 6277 7700​

Protective Marking:	Business Impact Level:	Compromise of Information Confidentiality:	Required to be Encrypted:
UNOFFICIAL	No Business Impact	No damage. This information does not form part of official duty.
OFFICIAL	Low Business Impact	No or insignificant damage. This is the majority of routine information.
OFFICIAL: Sensitive	Low to Medium Business Impact	Limited damage to an individual, organisation or government generally if compromised.
PROTECTED	High Business Impact	Damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
SECRET	Extreme Business Impact	Serious damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.
TOP SECRET	Catastrophic Business Impact	Exceptionally grave damage to the national interest, organisations or individuals.

Zak

 

[Zak]

Ambassador Mark Sofer would make his way to Parliament House from the embassy, using a diplomatic car used by the embassy. He was flanked by three security agents from Shin Bet who would escort him to the meeting. Nobody knew of the meeting that the Ambassador was going to, a cover story was told to embassy staff that he was meeting members of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

Upon his arrival, he would pull up to the electronic security gates and the driver would flash Israeli diplomatic credentials and ushered that he was driving the Ambassador to a meeting.

Owen

 

[Owen]

The gates would open and allow the driver to enter the staff carpark of the executive wing of Parliament House. A parliamentary security officer would welcome the Ambassador to the building and escort him through the hallways and into the Prime Minister's office. The Prime Minister would be sitting at his desk.

"Mr. Sofer" he would get up out of his chair. He would shake the mans hand.

"Please take a seat." He would gesture to the seating arrangement in front of his desk.

"I'll get straight to the point. We're deeply concerned about the actions of Turkey. It is reckless to say the least. I want the Israeli Government and people to be rest assured that Australia stands with Israel and is ready to do whatever we can to keep the State of Israel safe and secure. Let me know if there's anything I can do. If not, I want to know what your government is doing at the moment to counter this threat."

Zak

 

[Zak]

The Ambassador leans back into his chair wondering if the meeting is still going ahead due to the upcoming elections being undertaken in Australia at the present moment.

Owen

 

[Owen]

The Prime Minister would no longer be there having been ousted in a leadership coup. The new Prime Minister, Kim Beazley would come into the office to find the Israeli Ambassador there.

"Oh hello.... Mr.... Sofer is it?" He would shake his hand.

"Very nice to meet you. I just want to say that regardless of the change in leadership that I am a great friend of the Jewish people and of the State of Israel and I will continue to maintain the friendship. We're currently having an election at the moment, so we should see if I'm still in office in a couple of weeks time but the polls are looking pretty promising right now so don't fret. Now we have the issue of Turkey's actions... what can you tell me about what's happening?"

Mr. Beazley would undo this suit jacket buttons and lean back in his chair.

Zak

 

[Zak]

"Mister Beazley, thank you for seeing me. Prime Minister Bennett sends his best regards to yourself, your family and the rest of your party and wishes you well in the upcoming election. At the moment, Turkey is a major threat to the State of Israel and they have their lapdog Saudi Arabia who isn't much of a factor.

We do believe that Turkey could be planning an invasion of the State of Israel, we cannot prove this at the moment but it's still a factor and a possibility that some day they may attempt said invasion. The State of Israel has a strong army but we do lack capabilities in the Air Force and Navy that they may possess."

Owen

 

[Owen]

"You reckon Mr. Sofer? I would nearly say it is imminent. Their new government has committed to destroying the State of Israel, in response we have withdrawn our Embassy in Ankara and Consulate-General in Istanbul. Are you prepared for any invasion? Where do you lack in capabilities?"

Zak

 

[Zak]

"We're preparing the Israeli Armed Forces for an imminent invasion. We have had quite a concerning email sent to Prime Minister Bennett in the past few hours which almost proves that they are ready to invade the State of Israel."

Owen

 

[Owen]

"That's quite of the concern. We are ready to deploy Navy assets ASAP to the Red Sea and hopefully through the Suez to Egypt. I'll keep you updated but I will hold an emergency National Security Committee meeting now. You may join me in the Cabinet Room."

The Prime Minister would order the National Security Committee to meet in the Cabinet room. This would be top secret and in private. Present would be the core members of the Committee:

- Kim Beazley, Prime Minister (Chair)
- Jenny Macklin, Deputy Prime Minister (Deputy Chair)
- Kevin Rudd, Minister for Foreign Affairs (via video link)
- John Faulkner, Minister for Defence
- Nicola Roxon, Attorney-General
- Wayne Swan, Treasurer
- Ros Kelly, Minister for Home Affairs

Additionally invited:
- Admiral Chris Barrie, Chief of the Defence Force
- Vice Admiral Chris Oxenbould, Chief of Joint Operations
- Vice Admiral David Shackleton, Chief of Navy
- Rear Admiral David Campbell, Commander Australian Fleet

Kevin Rudd would join via video link from Hanoi as he was attending the ASEAN Summit. The Ambassador would be welcomed to all the members of Cabinet present.

​

"Please take a seat Mr. Ambassador..."

"Now I call this meeting because the Ambassador has informed me of some grave news, Mr. Ambassador if you would like to take the Committee through the situation."

Zak

 

[Zak]

The Ambassador would enter the cabinet room with the Prime Minister and would take a seat in the secure room.

"Good evening everyone, thank you for having me here today. The Turkish Government is dangerous, we have had communication from them and have had a formal statement to our government that they now recognize Palestine as the legitimate government of the West Bank and all of Israel, meaning that our government has now been deemed an illegitimate state. This is very concerning and we have mobilised our Security Cabinet to discuss this but Prime Minister Bennett is currently on a video call with Minister Eker to discuss this."

Owen

 

[Owen]

The Minister for Defence would butt in.

"Mr. Ambassador, plenty of countries in the Middle East have done that. You're not really making a convincing point for military operations. What was the contents of the communications?"

Zak

 

[Zak]

The Ambassador pulls up the contents of the email sent by the Turkish Government on the big screen for everyone to view.

https://modernnations.com/threads/israel-message-for-turkey.21830/ (Post 2)

 

[Owen]

The Attorney-General would comment.

"Hmm yes "Do be alarmed, but this is a threat and we are not afraid to use force to achieve our goals and unlike the previous leftist administration we care for the unity of all followers of Islam against any oppressor large or small, western backed or not." Is a bit of a concerning statement. Have you noticed any military movements by Turkey in your region? What do they consist of?"

Zak

 

[Zak]

"We currently don't have surface to air radars, so no air movements have been detected but no ground movements have been detected as of yet."

Owen

 

[Owen]

The Minister of Defence would reply.

"Mr. Ambassador you're still not making a very convincing case for military operations. Is there anything you can tell us that would make it convincing? We have much larger threats from Sweden to deal in order to justify sending ships half way across the world to the Middle East. What other evidence do you have that a Turkish invasion is imminent?"

Zak

 

[Owen]

Kevin Rudd the Minister of Foreign Affairs would interrupt.

"I think it is time we contact Turkey to get them to publicly clarify their position..."

The Minister for Defence would look at the Twitter feed (https://modernnations.com/threads/mn-twitter.9263/page-33#post-88329).

"I think they just did...."

The Prime Minister would turn to Admiral Chris Barrie.

"What will be involved Admiral?"

The Admiral would respond.

"HMAS Sydney, HMAS Perth, HMAS Adelaide, HMAS Canberra, HMAS Melbourne, HMAS Bataan, HMAS Stuart, HMAS Toowoomba, HMAS Ballarat, HMAS Warramunga, HMAS Waller, HMAS Dechaineux, HMAS Success, HMAS Diamantina, HMAS Hawkesbury, Clearance Diving Team 2, assets from Fleet Air Arm, assets from Primary Casualty Reception Facility."

The Prime Minister would give his green light.

"Make it happen Admiral."

Zak

 

[Owen]

"Mr Ambassador...."

The Prime Minister would slide a faxed document from the Australian Embassy in Riyadh over to the Israeli Ambassador:

============================================
TIME: 1300 AST
LOCATION: EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA, RIYADH, KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

AMBASSADOR JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH THE SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER.

INVASION OF ISRAEL IMMINENT.

MOVING AHEAD WITH PLANS TO ENFORCE AN EMBARGO ON ISRAEL IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS. CLEAR VIOLATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL LAW OF THE SEA.

REPEAT: ISRAEL IS THE TARGET, CONFIRMED BY SAUDI ARABIA.

TALKED ABOUT OCCUPATION DESPITE THE FACT PALESTINE IS INDEPENDENT. CLEAR MOTIVATIONS TO RETURN TO PRE-1948 BORDERS FOR PALESTINE RATHER THAN 1967 BORDERS.

THREATENED MILITARY ACTION AGAINST AUSTRALIA IF INTERVENING TO PREVENT THE EMBARGO.

MADE A RANGE OF ECONOMIC THREATS INCLUDING CUTTING GLOBAL OIL SUPPLY AND RESTRICTING ACCESS TO THE RED SEA.

THREATS HEAVILY BASED ON THE PRINCIPLES OF ISLAMIC EXTREMISM.

===========================================

Zak

 

[Zak]

"Christ almighty, the Prime Minister is going to have to hear about this."

The Ambassador would pass the news up the chain of command to the Foreign Minister and then to the Prime Minister on an encrypted line.

"Admiral Barrie, the Royal Australian Navy will be a great asset to the State of Israel and our ports will welcome your assets should you need to dock for replenishment."

Owen

 

[Owen]

"Yes well the best advice I can give right now is you move your military onto full alert and mobilisation. We have yet to see that yet. We need you to display that you are willing to fight for your country before I feel confident that I want to send Australians half way across the globe to fight this battle." The Prime Minister would respond.

Zak

 

[Zak]

"Absolutely Prime Minister, our Security Cabinet is currently convening to discuss tactical movements across the country. The country is locking down and we're moving the Army onto the streets."

Owen