Israel partially lifts media gag on 'Prisoner X'

Move comes after global coverage of case of top-secret detainee, said to be Mossad agent, who died in Israeli prison 

guardian.co.uk, Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem and Alison Rourke in Sydney, 13 Feb. 2013

Ben Zygier, identified by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as an
 agent for Israel's Mossad, was reportedly locked in solitary confinement since
2010 in a high-security Israeli prison. Photograph: ABC TV

The Israeli authorities have partially lifted a gag order concerning a man known as "Prisoner X", following widespread international coverage of the case of the top-secret detainee who hanged himself in a high-security prison in Israel. The prisoner was revealed to be an Australian citizen.

According to Israel Radio, domestic media outlets were permitted to quote foreign reports on Prisoner X but not publish or broadcast original material.

The secret detainee was identified by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as BenZygier, from Melbourne, who it said had become an agent for the Mossad, Israel's spy agency. Zygier – also known as Ben Alon and Ben Allen – was reported to have been locked in solitary confinement under conditions of strict secrecy in 2010, and hanged himself in his cell later that year. ABC did not disclose the reason for his detention.

The allegations were reported on international news websites, but the Israeli media was forbidden from publishing or broadcasting details. Editors were called by the Israeli prime minister's office to an emergency meeting on Tuesday afternoon, at which their co-operation with the government and the withholding of sensitive information was demanded. Gag orders and military censorship are common in Israel.

Until the partial lifting of the gag order, the media were restricted to reporting questions asked under privilege in the Israeli parliament, which elicited no information beyond a statement by the justice minister that the matter should be examined.

In a front-page comment piece, Aluf Benn, the editor-in-chief of Haaretz, wrote: "Instead of hushing up the blunder, [gag orders] merely shine a spotlight on it. But [Mossad chief Tamir] Pardo and the others believe that if they just apply a little more pressure, the door will remain shut. In the meantime, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are awash with people forwarding the information, sharing links to foreign websites, expressing opinions – and utterly ignoring those who are making pathetic attempts to turn back the clock to a time before WikiLeaks, and before bloggers who don't give two hoots about the censor."

In the aftermath of the revelations, Australia's department of foreign affairs and trade (DFAT) has launched a review into how diplomats handled the case of Prisoner X.

The review was announced after it became known that department officials had been made aware in 2010 that Zygier was being held in jail in Israel, but had not passed on the information.

"DFAT had [originally] advised that it was unaware of Mr Allen's detention in Israel," a spokesman said. "DFAT has now advised that some officers of the department were made aware of Mr Allen's detention at the time in 2010 by another Australian agency."

Earlier, the foreign minister, Bob Carr, had said consul officials were not aware of Zygier's circumstances until his parents asked for help in repatriating his body to Australia. Under normal circumstances, foreign embassies are usually advised if one of their nationals is being held in prison.

The leader of the Australian Greens, Christine Milne, said she would pursue the case. "According to press reports, Prisoner X was a dual citizen whose body was returned to Melbourne under suspicious circumstances. Minister Carr must pursue this matter with the Israeli government as a matter of urgency," Milne said in a statement.

Zygier's family have declined to speak to the media.

According to ABC, Zygier was 34 at the time of his death in Ayalon prison. He was married to an Israeli woman, Maya, with whom he had two children. It is unknown whether they still live in Israel or have moved abroad.

A former colleague, Patrick Durkin, who trained as a lawyer with Zygier, wrote of his fond memories of the alleged Mossad spy in the Australian Financial Review. "I remember drinking with Ben one night in 2001 when he recounted his famous story about taking a bullet in the posterior during his military service in Israel which he served shortly before joining our group. He described in vivid detail serving on the front-line and backtracking across war-torn countryside while gun-fire peppered the ground.

"He was extremely proud of his time in the military … I remember passionately debating the finer points of the Israeli-Palestine conflict with Ben who was obviously deeply engaged with the issue."

The tombstone of Ben Zygier at the Chevra Kadisha Jewish

cemetery, Melbourne, Australia. Photograph: Julian Smith/EPA

Related Articles:

Israel's Use of Foreign Passports Under Microscope

Israel admits it was holding Prisoner X after court eases gagging order

No sign Australian spy was suicidal: lawyer

Israel confirms it imprisoned man under false name

Mossad and Australian spies: how Fairfax reporter homed in on Zygier

Prisoner X throws spotlight on Israel's treatment of those it regards as enemies

Israel prison death shows censorship flaws in digital age

Australia orders review into Israel Prisoner X case

Israel’s Netanyahu and the Jewish Neocons in America Vow Revenge

(Religions – Zionism - March 1, 2012 - Matthew Channelled by Suzanne Ward)

9. It can be no other way—simply, this is the physics that governs life in this universe. As Earth continues apace into successively higher planes, nothing with low vibrations in any form—physical bodies, subversive plans, theft, dishonesty, unjust laws and imprisonment, bigotry, cruel customs and deeds—can survive.

10. Moving on, no, it will not be quite like religions being “totally discarded and replaced by universal laws in the Golden Age.” When the truths come forth that science and spirit are one and the same and that religious dogmas were originated by early leaders of church and state to control the masses, people whose consciousness has risen beyond the constraints of third density will adhere to the spiritual aspects of their respective religions and the devised, controlling aspects will fall by the wayside.

11. One of the truths to come forth is that Zionism, which by dark intent has been made synonymous with Judaism, actually is a bellicose political movement within the Illuminati, and its aim for more than six decades has been to create conflict and instability in the entire Middle East. Zionists, who have wielded powerful influence within and behind major governments and their military forces, do NOT represent the Jewish peoples in Israel or anywhere else. And, like all other Illuminati factions, they have been committed to that cabal’s goal of global domination.

12. Although Semites are of diverse national origins and religions, the Zionists have been successful in convincing many that “anti-Semitic” is exclusively prejudice against the Jewish peoples and opposition to Israel’s right to defend itself from its “enemies.” By means of that blatant distortion, they obtained not only world sympathy, but also massive defense funding from Israel’s allies, most especially the United States, all of which served to increase the Illuminati’s vast profits from their industrial-military machine.

13. In addition to controlling the masses through dogmatic teachings, religions have served the dark purpose of divisiveness to such an extent that it resulted in centuries of trauma and bloodshed. Witness the Crusades, wars between Catholics and Protestants, pogroms against Jews, executions of “blasphemous” individuals who refused to “recant.”  (Read More …)