Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Make a Passover gift and support Jewish journalism. DONATE NOW
Fast Forward

No Charges in Prisoner X Suicide Case

The State Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday released for publication previously embargoed materials from the investigation into the cause of death of alleged Mossad agent Ben Zygier, also known as Prisoner X.

Along with the release of the materials, the Prosecutor’s Office announced that it would not serve any indictments against Prison Service personnel involved in guarding Zygier prior to his death while in detention at Ayalon Prison.

The materials in question deal with responsibility of prison personnel charged with guarding Zygier while he was jailed. The Prosecutor’s Office had asked the court to keep the material confidential until it had formulated its decision as to indictments. The change in policy regarding publication was made following requests by Haaretz and Channels 10 and 2.

Among the information revealed in the newly released investigation materials is the fact that Zygier had a history of unstable mental health and that he posed a danger to himself. The investigation materials also reveal events from the day of Zygier’s death, including an encounter with his wife that left him in tears.

According to the investigation materials, Zygier himself reported that he had tried to commit suicide twice in the past. Despite this history, a psychiatrist told the Prisons Service that Zygier did not seem to be at risk of committing suicide.

For more, go to Haaretz

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:

  • Credit the Forward
  • Retain our pixel
  • Preserve our canonical link in Google search
  • Add a noindex tag in Google search

See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.