Death of Australian inside Israel, An Israeli spy who traveled to Iran?
Los Angeles Times: The full story may never be known of why a baby-faced attorney from a prominent Jewish family in Melbourne, Australia came under suspicion of working for Israel's Mossad spy agency and then died alone in an Israeli jail cell charged with betraying the country he had adopted.
But as the political drama over Ben Zygier's 2010 arrest and death has swept through Israel, it has left virtually no institution unscathed.
Mossad was scrambling to contain possible damage to its operations in Iran and other places where Zygier is believed to have traveled using his Australian passport. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was viewed as clumsily trying to suppress coverage in Israel even after the Australian Broadcasting Corp. aired a report about the case, sparking international attention.
Attorney Avigdor Feldman, former attorney for Zygier, told Israel's Channel 10 that the 24-year-old former Israeli soldier was indicted for "grave crimes" and was under heavy pressure from interrogators.
The most immediate shock wave from the case is likely to hit Mossad, whose operations and operatives may have been put at risk in Iran, Syria and Lebanon, where Zygier used his Australian passport. Security agencies in those countries probably are scouring their records, surveillance cameras and other databases for information about when he visited, what he did, whom he met and who traveled with him.
A Kuwaiti newspaper Thursday alleged that Zygier, who also used the names Ben Allen, Ben Alon and Ben Burrows, took part in the January 2010 operation and had offered to provide information to Dubai police when he was arrested by Israelis. The account could not be verified.
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