Placeholder name of a Mossad agent reportedly secretly imprisoned in Israel since about 2004
"Prisoner X2" (in
Hebrew: "האסיר איקס 2" or "X2 האסיר") is a
placeholder name of a
Mossad agent (described as an "important operative"[1]) who has reportedly been secretly imprisoned in
Israel since about 2004, after he was convicted of
treason (reportedly
spying for
Iran).[2]
Reports about Prisoner X2
Details of a "second Prisoner X" being secretly held in
Ayalon Prison emerged in 2013, following the exposure of the
death of Ben Zygier. Israeli Foreign Minister
Avigdor Lieberman, who chaired the
Knesset Committee on Defense and Foreign Affairs, told Knesset members the case was "extremely serious" but that the prisoner's rights were being upheld.[3] Israeli
lawyerAvigdor Feldman described this case as "a terrible security breach", and "much more grave, sensational, amazing and riveting from Zygier's case."[4][5] The case was kept secret in Israel, and reports about it were deleted from Israeli
news sites.[6][7]
In May 2018,
Richard Silverstein of Tikun Olam, citing the work of Amir Oren with Walla!, reported that Prisoner X2, still unidentified, had been released from custody.[2]