ayalon prison

Former Mossad head Meir Dagan (R) with former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi (L) (Photo: Israel Defense Forces, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

‘Prisoner X’ and the security elite’s unchecked power

Recent actions taken by the heads of the army, Mossad and the internal security service (Shin Bet) reveal the Israeli security establishment’s unsupervised power, and the way it directs that power at the country’s own citizens and elected officials. These are the main details which have been made public in the affair of Ben Zygier,…

By Noam Sheizaf February 18, 2013

Ben Zygier, alleged Mossad Agent who was found dead in his cell in 2010 (photo: ABC Australia)

‘Prisoner X’: Censorship and gag orders in the age of new media

The ‘Prisoner X’ affair was sensitive enough for Israel to use all of its censorship tools at once: the military censor, gag orders and the ‘editors committee.’ But was the effort by the Prime Minister’s Office entirely about national security, or did it have to do with protecting those responsible for the mess? And what should…

By Noam Sheizaf February 13, 2013

A prison cell (illustration photo: Still Burning / CC BY-NC 2.0)

Disappearing articles and the dead prisoner affair (‘Mr. X’): A timeline

UPDATE, Wednesday 9.00 AM: The censorship ban on the ABC report regarding the arrest and death of Australian born Ben Zygier was lifted, and this morning the Israeli media is publishing the details in Hebrew. Here is the ABC report: In June 2010 Ynet, Israel’s largest online news site, posted a story on an unknown prisoner held in…

By Noam Sheizaf February 12, 2013

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