Prisoner X: Israel admits secret jailing of Ben Zygier, named as Australian-born Mossad spy

Mr Zygier, dubbed Prisoner X by the Israeli media, was found hanging in Wing 15 of Israel's Ayalon prison after several months of solitary confinement. His four-metre by four-metre room, monitored with 24-hour CCTV surveillance and multiple prison wardens who were not told his name, was thought to be "suicide proof".

Also known as Ben Alon, he was born in Melbourne but emigrated to Israel in 2000, marrying an Israeli woman and having two children. He also had an Australian passport under the name Ben Allen. His close family in Melbourne have refused to comment.

After two years of rumour, under strictly enforced Israeli censorship, Prisoner X's identity was revealed by Australia's public broadcaster this week, setting off frantic efforts by the Israeli authorities to stop media publishing details.

Mr Zygier had reportedly been under investigation by Australia's domestic intelligence agency, ASIO, over suspected attempts to gain Australian passports for Mossad's use.

When confronted by a journalist in 2010, he flatly denied he was a Mossad spy. "What is this total bullsh** you are telling me?" he said. "I am not involved in any kind of spying. That is ridiculous."

Australia complained to Israel in 2010 and expelled an Israeli diplomat over the use of fake Australian passports in the assassination of a Hamas gun-runner, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in a Dubai hotel.

Four of the 27 people identified by Dubai police as involved travelled on Australian passports in the names of dual Australian-Israeli citizens. Mr Zygier was imprisoned shortly after.

A former Israeli intelligence officer told The Daily Telegraph he could not explain what offence could have been so grave to justify Mr Zygier's treatment.

"One of the things that makes this case so hard to understand is that Mossad takes protecting Jewish people very seriously," he said.

One leading investigative reporter said the truth might never be revealed.

"To people who know the real details of the case, it is absolutely reasonable for Israel not to want them to be published," he said, speaking anonymously.

"I cannot go into details but they are so sensitive, related entirely to intelligence, that the majority of the Israeli media has accepted the government's request not to write about it. This is very, very rare. I have never known a story like it."

Source: http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/568301/s/288a01c1/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cnews0Cworldnews0Cmiddleeast0Cisrael0C98690A650CPrisoner0EX0EIsrael0Eadmits0Esecret0Ejailing0Eof0EBen0EZygier0Enamed0Eas0EAustralian0Eborn0EMossad0Espy0Bhtml/story01.htm

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