After Mossad agent's suicide, Israel likened to China and USSR
Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - "Israel is not Soviet Russia, Argentina or China, but a democracy bound to its citizens' human rights [. . .] that enables freedom of expression and publication," Israeli daily Haaretz wrote yesterday in an editorial following media reports in Australia about the strange death in prison two years ago of a Mossad agent with dual Australian and Israeli citizenship. Israeli authorities have acknowledged the death following foreign media reports, causing a wave of criticism in the country about the unclear demarcation line between national security and freedom of information.
Three days ago Australian media reported that an Australian-born Israeli man, Ben Zygier (pictured), who also went by the names of Ben Alon and Ben Allen, had worked for Israel's Mossad spy agency, but that he had eventually been imprisoned in Ayalon Prison in 2010, and had been found hanged in December of that year in a maximum-security cell.
In Israel many are asking why the government confirmed the story of 'Prisoner X' within 24 hours of the first media reports in Australia, why he was arrested and whether his rights were respected or not.
According to the Israeli court that tried him, his rights were respected but information about the trial was not made public for security reasons.
Zygier's lawyer, Avigdor Feldman, doubts however that his client committed suicide. He said he met Zygier two days before his death and that the latter was ready to defend himself in court.
Israeli authorities are quite reticent to talk about the agent's alleged crimes. But in Australia, speculation is rampant. For instance, the Brisbane Times said that Zygier was arrested because he was going to reveal that the Mossad used Australian passports. News agency Fairfax Media noted that Israeli agents used Australian passports during their assassination of senior Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room, in January 2010.
Israeli media are speculating instead that Zygier was imprisoned for committing some act of treason. Reportedly, he travelled to Iran, Syria and Lebanon and worked with Israel's enemies.
However, this does not fit with his lawyer's characterisation. Mr Feldman noted that Zygier was eager to go to court to prove his innocence.
Other sources suggest that he refused millions of shekels in exchange of his silence about Mossad's use of Australian passports.
An Australian reporter, Jason Koutsoukis, who once interviewed Zygier, excluded the possibility that he had travelled to Iran, Syria and Lebanon, because he denied it. Perhaps, only his passport made the trip.
Amos Regev, the editor-in-chief of a paper close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the government had handled the case properly.
But for Zehava Galon, leader of the opposition party Meretz, "The concept that everything must be subjugated before 'security needs' is unacceptable".
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29/06/2022 11:55
