The partial publication on Tuesday of Judge Daphna Blatman Kedrai's report of inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Ben Zygier, also known as "Prisoner X," only confirms what was written 48 hours after the story was first broken by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. According to the ABC report, if Zygier ran amok, then how he was enlisted by the Mossad and how he managed to commit suicide in prison need to be thoroughly examined. In regard to the first part of the question, how he was enlisted (according to foreign reports) by the Mossad, we still must wait for the riddle to be solved: What did the young Australian do that brought him from service in the Israel Defense Forces and the Mossad to a prison cell in Ramle? With regard to his suicide in prison, it appears that someone in the Israel Prison Service needs to pay the price. There was a screw up. Not pertaining to his "mysterious" arrest (his family, the Australian government, and four Israeli attorneys knew about it), but because the Israel Prison Service failed to fulfill its mission to safeguard the prisoner. Zygier isn't the first prisoner to kill himself in jail, but not every prisoner receives the title "X." Australia's attorney-general, Mark Dreyfus, said that he doesn't see a reason to investigate the Australian Security Intelligence Organization for its role in the affair. He knows why. It appears that in Australia there was a breakdown in communication between the different intelligence organizations. It could be that, when all is said and done, the Zygier affair will end with Israel investigating how he killed himself and Australia investigating how the information didn't reach the right people there. Israel doesn't have many friends in the world. It's lucky that the friends it does have are important and very close. The U.S., Canada and Australia, among others, are on this list. This is why the statement released by the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday that Zygier wasn't working for ASIO, as was reported in the press, is certainly welcome news. All signs point to Israel and Australia not needing to file for divorce any time soon.
