Prisoner X

The case of "Prisoner X" has caused an international furore between Israel and Australia.  Apparently Prisoner X was an Australian citizen who emigrated to Israel and became a joint Israeli citizen.  His name has been revealed to be Ben Zygier from a prominent Melbourne Jewish family, but he used the name of Ben Alon in Israel.  He was apparently recruited by the Mossad, the Israeli secret service, as an agent and travelled thru Iran and other enemy countries. 

At this point the case becomes obscure, because he was secretly arrested and imprisoned in a high security jail in Israel.  The only assumption then is that he was found to have revealed top secret information to the enemy.  According to reports he was held in solitary confinement, and although on a special high security watch, managed to commit suicide by hanging himself two years ago. He was then buried in Melbourne.  Although there were rumors about the case and questions were asked two years ago, it was only now that a gag order imposed by an Israeli court could be bypassed due to the story being reported in Australia by the ABC network. 

However, before jumping to conclusions, it appears that the Israeli Government had informed the Australian Government of the case against Zygier, and so there has been no protests from Canberra.  Also, his family had been informed of the situation.  Further, throughout the case, including lengthy court proceedings, Zygier was represented by counsel (three lawyers) and was given due process, even though everything was kept secret under the court order.  There are numerous complaints in Israel by human rights organizations that accuse the Government of using the courts to cover up their actions.  Under the IDF legal code general gag orders are apparently not allowed, but the Government uses the civil courts to keep cases against Mossad agents secret. 

While we don't know the actual details of the case against Zygier, now that the case of Prisoner X has come into the public arena, it won't be long before further details of his case will emerge.  There is a rumor that he was one of the Israeli agents (with a real Australian passport, most of them were forged) who was involved in the murder of Hamas terrorist leader Mohammed Mabhouh in Dubai and he was detected or captured by the Dubai Secret Service and cooperated with them, naming names and giving the Israeli team away.  This might explain how the Dubai authorities knew so much about the case so quickly. The Dubai authorities held him in a secret location, but the Mossad managed to find and capture him and bring him back to Israel for trial.  He may have been "bumped off" to avoid embarrassment to the authorities here, but he appears to have managed to commit suicide.  However, if I knew the real story I could not tell you, because if I did I would have to kill you.