Israel Matzav

Prisoner X: Australian dual citizen who committed suicide was part of al-Mabhouh assassination team?

Based on 'western sources,' a Kuwaiti newspaper is reporting that an Australian-Israeli dual citizen who committed suicide in an Israeli prison in late 2010 was part of the Mossad team that assassinated Hamas terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai earlier that year. 'Ben Allen,' whose real name was Ben Zygler, had made aliya in the year 2000, and allegedly committed suicide in an Israeli prison cell in 2010.

Western sources "in the know" told Kuwait's Al-Jarida newspaper on Thursday that Ben Zygier, AKA "Prisoner X," was one of the members of the squad which assassinated senior Hamas terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai in January 2010.

The same sources noted that following the mission, Zygier contacted the government in Dubai and updated it on the details of the assassination in exchange for protection. The sources also said that Israel managed to uncover Zygier's hiding place, kidnapped him and jailed him for treason, and all this while maintaining absolute secrecy. The report has not been confirmed by any other sources.

Israel acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that it held the Australia-born dual Israeli citizen under a false name for security reasons and that he died in prison more than two years ago - details that shed new light on a case that has strained relations with its close ally Australia and raised questions about its secretive Mossad agency.

Zygier's trial took place in 2010 at the Central District Court, while he still resided in Petah Tikva. He was taken to the court under heavy security and great secrecy, and all deliberations regarding his case occurred behind closed doors.

While inside the courthouse, he was hidden and isolated from the other detainees, so that he could not be communicated with and was unable to communicate with others.

Due to the furtiveness of the deliberations, the court employees understood that something irregular was occurring at the scene – but apparently most of them had no idea what was actually going on.

Read the whole thing.

This story has become all the rage over the last couple of days because during the Knesset's opening session, a couple of Left-wing MK's used it to attack outgoing Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman. Until then, no one had ever heard of it.

Labels: Australia, Dubai, Hamas, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Mossad

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:19 PM