An Australian army officer has been stripped of his security clearance after the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) determined he posed a risk due to his perceived stronger loyalty to Israel than to Australia.
The officer, anonymised as HWMW in tribunal documents, was found to have withheld information about the training he undertook in Israel and said he would provide classified information to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) if asked, reported The Guardian.
ASIO’s security assessment, upheld by the administrative review tribunal, concluded that HWMW was “vulnerable to influence or coercion to enable acts of espionage or foreign interference by Israeli Intelligence Services”.
The tribunal supported ASIO’s decision, stating that his “demonstrated loyalty to Israel above the Australian government” made him unsuitable to hold any level of security clearance.
The officer, who has served in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) for 19 years, told ASIO that he “did not view Israel as a foreign government” and admitted he would share classified information with the IDF if requested.
He also failed to disclose training courses he attended in Israel, which involved self-defence, security and firearms instruction. These courses were organised by Ami-Ad, an association that promotes Jewish volunteerism and were funded by the Israeli government. Trainers included former members of the Israel Security Agency.
History of undisclosed activities
HWMW joined the ADF in 2004 and received Negative Vetting 2 clearance—granting access to top-secret information—in 2010. From 2014 to 2023, he volunteered with a Sydney-based Community Security Group (CSG), which provides intelligence and security for the Jewish community.
He travelled to Israel in 2016 and 2019 to participate in CSG training, but he did not fully disclose these trips during security assessments, reported SBS News.
Under questioning, HWMW initially claimed his travel was for “community leadership” courses but later admitted, “I provided a truth, it’s not the full truth… it was only to save myself from interrogation and questioning.”
According to The Guardian, he acknowledged his failure to disclose his CSG training was “an error on my part… and if I had my time again I would provide the full information”.
In his appeal, HWMW argued that the ADF “must come with an understanding that the Jew will have a level of loyalty for the Jewish Nation and for the State of Israel.”
He suggested that preventing Jews from serving in the ADF under such conditions would amount to discrimination. However, the tribunal rejected this claim, stating that ASIO’s concerns were based on “the Applicant’s past conduct… not his Jewish faith or Jewish cultural identity”, as per SBS News.
ASIO considered lowering HWMW’s clearance level instead of revoking it but ultimately concluded that no restrictions could adequately “mitigate the risk of Mossad exploitation to enable acts of espionage or foreign influence”.
The loss of his security clearance is likely to affect his future employment within the Australian Army and other government roles.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declined to comment on the case and said, “I don’t comment on national security issues in press conferences”, according to SBS News.