‘Ben Zygier was not a traitor’: new film

A forthcoming ABC documentary revisits the Prisoner X tragedy, arguing his crime was a mistake and his suicide preventable.

The question of the true story behind the downfall of Prisoner X — Australian-Israeli Mossad agent Ben Zygier — rattled Israel for much of 2013. But few concrete answers ever arose.

A new documentary recently premiered at the Jerusalem Film Festival and will air on the ABC later this year.

Prisoner X”explores how Zygier evolved from a young, idealistic Zionist growing up in Melbourne to a  father of two accused of treason and driven to suicide in solitary confinement.

Amid the many theories, the film does appear to reach some conclusions, including that Zygier took his own life, and was not killed; that whatever crime he was charged with was likely due to a mistake, rather than intentional betrayal; and that Israeli authorities mistreated and abandoned a mentally unstable Zygier, leading to his preventable death.

READ MORE
What happened to Prisoner X? New film seeks to shed light on disgraced Mossad agent (Times of Israel)

Photo: An image from the Prisoner X' documentary about  Ben Zygier. (Arik Weiss/Medalia Productions)