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David Norris Niall Carson/PA Wire/Press Association Images

Israel and Labour deny plot against Norris as backers consider support

More details emerge about the scandal that has rocked the independent Senator’s campaign.

DAVID NORRIS’ PRESIDENTIAL hopes remain in the balance today as both Israel and the Labour party have been forced to deny a plot to end his Áras dream.

The independent senator has been under pressure after it emerged over the weekend that he wrote a letter, using Seanad headed paper, seeking clemency for his friend and former partner Ezra Yizhak Nawi who was convicted of the statutory rape of a 15-year-old boy in the Israeli courts in 1997.

Several of his staff have resigned over the matter whilst of the 14 TDs who pledged support to him only five have reaffirmed that support.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland independent TD Thomas Pringle said he was consulting his supporters over the matter. Three others have suggested they will decide over the coming days whilst another five cannot be contacted, RTÉ reports.

The Irish Independent reports that the Israeli embassy has been forced to deny claims it is behind  the emergence of the letter from 1997 in which Norris asked an Israeli court to show “mercy” to Nawi.

The Labour party presidential hopeful Michael D Higgins has also denied that he or anyone else in his campaign leaked the information about Norris and the letter, according to the Irish Times.

The blogger who broke the story a week ago has revealed he has been deluged with hate mail as a result of his actions. John Connolly told the Irish Independent that he is a Zionist and had a problem with Norris’ “outspoken criticism of Israel”.

He said he was inspired to investigate the letter after he was tipped off by a person he had been friends with in Ireland, admitting that person may have been a supporter of Higgins.

Meanwhile, the Irish Daily Mail today reports that Norris continued his relationship with Nawi for four years after the conviction was handed down. In 2002, Norris is reported to have told journalist Joe Jackson that his relationship with Nawi lasted 26 years and ended in 2001.

The story has reached Israeli where Hareetz is reporting that the “popular Irish politician’s presidential ambitions” are being derailed by the controversy over his relationship with Nawi.

In a TheJournal.ie poll, 77 per cent of voters have said that this latest controversy will affect Norris’ bid for the presidency.

Read more: Norris: Who’s supporting him now? >

Read more: Leaked Seanad letters show Norris sought clemency for former partner – report

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    Mute ponythegringo
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    Feb 29th 2012, 9:54 AM

    well , i hate to say it but how big would our collective blinkers be if it wasn’t for anon?

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    Mute Multi talentless
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    Feb 29th 2012, 10:24 AM

    I love how easily people seem to blindly accept these faceless “organisations” as the saviours of “free speech”
    How exactly does anonymous brand of censorship differ to SOPA censorship.
    Ever Wonder who is really behind Anon & Wikileaks ?
    Trust no one

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    Mute Richard Brownebacher
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    Feb 29th 2012, 1:52 PM

    an apt name

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    Mute Aaron Burns
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    Feb 29th 2012, 2:07 PM

    Don’t talk about what you don’t know.

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    Mute Paddy McGowan
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    Feb 29th 2012, 11:30 AM

    In response to an “apparent” cyber attack on interpol they arrested 25 people they suspected… …of using computers? of having an IT degree? of saying something out of line on the journal.ie forums? Its all so paper thin it could be a plot line from CSI! And yet interpols exec direc thinks it was a successful crack down on cyber crime. What a nice little work of fiction we are being force fed.

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    Mute Paddy O Donnell
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    Feb 29th 2012, 10:15 AM

    “i fought the law and the law won!” Bobby Fuller

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    Mute Oliver Clarke
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    Feb 29th 2012, 3:14 PM

    nothing but respect for anonymous, at the very least they have an excellent sense of humour. they will never be stopped

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    Mute Tom Neville
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    Feb 29th 2012, 10:38 AM

    I thought these guys all used IP address blockers, etc. How good are they if they get caught so easily?

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    Mute Brian Walsh
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    Feb 29th 2012, 10:50 AM

    Who said it was easy? They are known to use zombie machines etc but the folks chasing them can be just as good, and obviously are.

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    Mute Jason Doyle
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    Feb 29th 2012, 10:51 AM

    Or how good are they that the managed to hack INTERPOL.

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    Mute Tom Neville
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    Feb 29th 2012, 10:56 AM

    Comitting crime is easy. Evading capture is the hard part.
    I’m not an IT head, but from all I’ve read hacking is as easy as picking a car lock…something I also have no skill or training in.

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    Mute Sean Claffey
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    Feb 29th 2012, 11:07 AM

    @Jason I doubt they hacked anyone, I’m assuming it was another DDoS attack like all the others.

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    Mute Patrick Slattery
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    Feb 29th 2012, 11:46 AM

    These ‘cyber-attackers’ are just fools running LOIC pointed at an IP address. Hardly hackers.

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    Mute Aranthos Faroth
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    Feb 29th 2012, 12:49 PM

    Script Kids? Yeah, they make up most of Anonymous.
    Which is a shame really, considering that they don’t quite understand what they are getting themselves into.
    LulzSec & Anon and many other groups have dozens of guides on how to ghost yourself online. If the kids don’t want to read, who cares? I certainly don’t.

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    Mute Joost Bos
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    Feb 29th 2012, 4:38 PM

    Ghosting isn’t entirely foolproof, though. Even though there are networking programs that completely exclude your mahcine from the WWW.

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