A Jewish officer in the Australian army who had his security clearance stripped for being more loyal to Israel than Australia has left the defence force.
In February the officer lost an appeal to a tribunal over the cancellation of his clearance, which came as a result of ASIO determining he was vulnerable to exploitation by Mossad after he admitted he would share classified information with Israel if asked.
The officer, anonymised as HWMW by the tribunal, remained in the Australia Defence Force (ADF) in the inactive reserve after the tribunal’s decision, but has now after 19 years in the Australian military, The Guardian revealed on Saturday.
On Friday Greens senator David Shoebridge criticised the Department of Defence for not forcing HWMW out after he admitting lying about training with Jewish security organisation Community Security Group (CSG), and said they had failed to answer his questions about CSG reviews.
Defence in February took a question on notice about whether any other ADF members had undertaken similar training, but in a response this week stated only that all security clearance holders are regularly assessed for external loyalties.
The tribunal found that the HWMW, an Australian citizen and orthodox Jew, joined CSG, trained with them in Israel, and failed to “tell the whole truth” about the purpose of his trips.
HWMW also admitted the courses were used as a recruitment pool for the Israeli government and Mossad, and told ASIO that he did not share its view that Israel was a foreign government.
In an interview with ASIO he openly stated he would provide classified or sensitive information to Israel if asked, and although he later claimed he had not made such an admission, the tribunal found the transcripts provided by ASIO were accurate.
He also argued in a written statement that the ADF should accept that Jews would be loyal to Israel and that not doing so could be discriminatory.
“The ADF is an organisation that embraces multiculturalism and the acceptance of all peoples regardless of their race, religion, or sex,” HWMW wrote.
“Allowing Jews to serve within the ADF must come with an understanding that the Jew will have a level of loyalty for the Jewish Nation and for State of Israel. Just as are [sic] ethnic groups remain loyal to their county or [sic] origin or their heritage.
“The Australian Government must appreciate the implications of allowing Jews to serve within the ADF and the associated inherent risk.
“If the implication of this risk dictate the preference for the ADF to avoid observant Jews who harbour loyalty to the Jewish Nation, then this undermines the broader multiculturalism of the ADF workforce. It would then be argued that this policy may be discriminatory to the Jewish People.”
HWMW also wrote that revoking his security clearance would be viewed negatively by the global Jewish community and call the ADF’s commitment to multiculturalism into question.
“Zionism is an essential theme within Judaism. Judaism mandates the loyalty of a Jew to his people and to the Land of Israel,” he wrote, and complained that “events have now turned on me” despite choosing to serve in the ADF over the IDF.
“The Australian Government is aware that every Jew harbours a varying degree of loyalty to Israel. Some have a higher and more overt levels of loyalty than others. This is the latent risk that the Australian Government must naturally accept when employing Jews.
“The revocation of my Security Clearance and subsequent removal of myself from the ADF, notwithstanding 19 years of service, on the grounds that I harbour loyalty to Israel, would be viewed within the Jewish World with apprehension. This further puts into question the standard of multiculturalism tolerated within the ADF.”
But the tribunal found that ASIO’s Adverse Security Assessment was correct and correctly represented, and that revoking his security clearance was not discriminatory.
“ASIO’s opinion that the Applicant has demonstrated a higher level of loyalty to Israel than to the Australian Government is justified as the Applicant has, in our assessment, demonstrated loyalty to Israel which is incompatible with his obligations as a security clearance holder,” the tribunal found.
“The Applicant’s assertion that precluding him from holding a security clearance on the grounds of his Jewish faith and Jewish cultural identity would be discriminatory is incorrect. It is the Applicant’s past conduct which has raised security concerns in this case, not his Jewish faith or Jewish cultural identity.”
“We make no finding the Applicant has been or is disloyal to the Australian Government, rather he has divided loyalties between his obligations as a security clearance holder and his faith and Jewish cultural identity.”
HWMW had top secret negative vetting 2 access from 2010 until it was revoked in 2023.
Header image credit: Australian Defence Force.
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