Australia Knew More About Israel’s Prisoner X Ben Zygier
Australian intelligence services were updated by the Israeli government on the arrest of Ben Zygier in 2010, Australian media reported on Wednesday.
ABC network, which first reported on the affair, quoted Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr’s spokesman, who said that in the past couple days Carr has received new information indicating that officials at the Foreign Ministry and another Australian government agency knew about Zygier’s arrest.
“DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) has now advised that some officers of the department were made aware of Mr Allen’s (Zygier’s) detention at the time in 2010 by another Australian agency,” the spokeswoman said in a statement. “Minister Carr has asked department secretary, Mr. Peter Varghese, to review the handling of this consular case.”
For more, go to Haaretz.com
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
