BICOM

It was announced yesterday evening that the intelligence subcommittee of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee will conduct an investigation into the events surrounding the arrest and death of ‘Prisoner X,’ thought to be Australian-born Ben Zygier.

An investigative Australian television report said last week that Zygier was held in total isolation in the high-security Ayalon Prison near Tel Aviv, and was known by prison authorities only as ‘Prisoner X.’ He was jailed in early 2010 and apparently committed suicide the same year. The incident was raised in the Knesset last week and continues to be discussed in detail in the Israeli media following a partial lifting of a gag order on the story.

Yesterday, Asaf Doron, the spokesman for the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee announced, “The intelligence subcommittee…decided to hold an intensive inquiry into all aspects of the affair of the prisoner found dead in his cell.” Earlier on Sunday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly addressed the incident for the first time during his weekly cabinet meeting, saying “The security and intelligence forces of the State of Israel operate under the full supervision of the legal authorities, which are completely independent. With this combination of maintaining security and maintaining the law, we will also maintain freedom of expression.”

Meanwhile, Australia’s Foreign Minister Bob Carr also announced that his ministry would conduct an investigation into Zygier’s death and in doing so would request the input of the Israeli government. He said, “We want to give them [Israel’s government] an opportunity to submit to us an explanation of how this tragic death came about.”