MKs who spoke of Prisoner X undermined national security

Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman had harsh words of criticism on Wednesday for three fellow MKs who tried to circumvent a gag order by asking tough questions during a Knesset session about a mysterious incident involving the death of an Australian national in an Israeli prison in 2010.

„This is a case of MKs who decided to take advantage of their immunity to sidestep the military censor’s instructions and undermine national security,” Lieberman said Wednesday. „The Knesset Ethics Committee needs to make a decision [on the matter].”

On Tuesday, MKs Zehava Gal-On, Ahmad Tibi and Dov Khenin, used the platform of a live Knesset session with Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman to ask provocative general questions pertaining to the secrecy surrounding the alleged incarceration and subsequent suicide of Ben Zygier.

Because the session was broadcast live, there was no way to censor questions from the MKs and ministers, who enjoy immunity from prosecution for any statements made in the Knesset.

MK Miri Regev (Likud-Beytenu), who, in the past, served as the IDF chief censor, also said that Khenin, Tibi and Gal-On had harmed state security.

„I have approached the ethics committee, asking for an immediate discussion of this violation, and I will also take this to the attorney-general,” Regev said.

Former Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud-Beytenu) said the affair was „not worthy of public debate due to security concerns. As far as I know, there is nothing in this affair that should be publicly discussed. I hope the MKs will be satisfied with the fact that the issue is now in the headlines.”

Hanegbi added that he did not think that anything the three MKs said on Tuesday actually breached Israel’s security, but that further debate could cause real damage.

MK Ofer Shelah (Yesh Atid) who represented his party in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee said Wednesday, „On the surface, the affair concerning the Australian citizen quickly and easily elicited the use of heavy artillery in the form of a gag order and a meeting of the editors’ committee. There are aspects here that should be put to a debate.”

MK Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz) called on Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein to launch an immediate investigation into the circumstances surrounding the imprisonment and subsequent death of the prisoner. According to Horowitz, he had sent a letter to Weinstein as early as June 2010 warning that imprisoning a man in solitary confinement in complete anonymity was a very serious issue.

A sweeping gag order has been imposed on the entire affair. Horowitz posted the original letter on Facebook and wrote, „A very senior law enforcement official had spoken to me after I sent the letter. He promised me that the situation was being monitored by the legal system and that there is no such thing as a ‘prisoner in the dark’ — that everything was under control and supervision. Now it turns out that this was not the case. The details of the Australian investigation that were released for publication on Wednesday reveal that this prisoner died shortly after I warned of the danger and shortly after I was assured that ‘everything’ was under control.”