THE Government yesterday was asked to investigate allegations, raised

by two MPs, that the Foreign Editor of the Daily Mirror, Nick Davies,

was a high-level spy for Israel.

The Mirror's publisher, Robert Maxwell, also has been named as having

''a close relationship'' with the Israeli intelligence service Mossad.

Both men strongly denied the allegations and said they were consulting

their lawyers about suing the American author and publishers of the book

in which the claims were made.

One of the MPs, Tory Rupert Allason, who as Nigel West writes about

spying, called in the Commons for the Prime Minister, as head of the

security services, to order an immediate inquiry into the alleged

connection between the two men and Israeli intelligence.

Leader of the House John MacGregor was standing in for Mr Major, who

was returning from the Commonwealth Heads of Government conference at

Harare -- where Mr Davies was a member of the press corps.

Mr MacGregor said that if evidence was provided that Mr Davies was

involved in sales of Israeli military equipment to Iran that justified

an investigation, he was sure the Department of Trade and Industry would

hold one.

Later, Government sources indicated that they do not believe that

allegations made in a book, The Samson Option, by American writer

Seymour Hersh, are enough to justify an inquiry.

Mr George Galloway, Labour MP for Glasgow Hillhead, used another

privileged Commons motion to express deep concern about allegations in

the book, including one that Mr Davies betrayed the whereabouts in

London of Israeli nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu -- who told a

British newspaper about Israel's secret nuclear bomb -- to Mossad, who

then lured him from the country and kidnapped him.

Today's Daily Mirror carries a leader attacking Mr Allason and Mr

Galloway. It challenges the MPs to repeat the allegations outside the

privilege of the House of Commons.

''The rumours about Mr

Davies are old hat, peddled by an Israeli whom he knew many years

ago,'' it says. The American authorities looked into them a year ago and

dismissed them as without foundation.''

The motion by Mr Allason expressed concern at the book's disclosure

''that the Daily Mirror and its proprietor Robert Maxwell have

maintained a close relationship with the Israeli intelligence service,

Mossad''.

Mr Galloway's motion said: ''That this House is deeply concerned by

the allegations made by the senior American journalist Seymour Hersh in

his new book The Samson Option, published by Faber and Faber, that Mr

Nicholas Davies, Foreign Editor of the Daily Mirror, has been involved

in substantial arms sales of Israeli equipment to Iran and other

countries over the last 10 years.''

The motion by Mr Allason also calls on the Department of Trade and

Industry to inquire into whether UN sanctions against Iran were broken

and urges the Foreign Office to ban Mirror reporters from its

confidential briefings ''until an investigation by the appropriate

authorities has been completed''.

Speaking from his hotel in Harare, Mr Davies said last night: ''I

categorically and totally deny all the allegations contained in the

House of Commons motions. They are a complete falsehood. I have no idea

what the MPs are up to. I shall be seeing lawyers as soon as I get

back.''

Robert Maxwell, who is on a business trip in New York, said he was

taking legal action against the book's publishers and planned to block

further sales.

He added: ''The accusations against me are lies, a total invention. We

will be taking immediate legal action in defence of Nick Davies and to

refute the absurd allegations against me.''

Mr Davies said he had had no contacts with Mossad.

''I have nothing to do with Mossad. I had nothing to do with the

Vanunu story. I never touched the Vanunu story at all, ever.

''And I was never engaged in supplying arms to Iran.''

Mr Davies confirmed that he had been to Israel a few times, saying:

''Before 1983 I used to do all the Arab side of the story.

''I was invited to Israel in about 1983 in the same way that many

other journalists are for a facility trip for 10 days.

''It is the sort of trip where you meet very high people.

''Everyone does it, not just me. You go around in a party of about a

dozen.''

He added: ''I did not meet the guy who wrote the book.

''I have had only one phone call from him, one in which I

categorically denied all this.