"Prisoner X2" (in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: "האסיר איקס 2" or "X2 האסיר") is a

placeholder name Placeholder names are words that can refer to things or people whose names do not exist, are tip of the tongue, temporarily forgotten, are not relevant to the salient point at hand, are to avoid stigmatization, are unknowable/unpredictable in ...

of a

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

agent (described as an "important operative") who has reportedly been secretly imprisoned in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

since about 2004, after he was convicted of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

(reportedly

spying Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

for

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

Reports about Prisoner X2

Details of a "second Prisoner X" being secretly held in

Ayalon Prison Ayalon Prison (), formerly known as Ramla Prison, is a maximum-security prison located in Ramla, Israel. It is managed by the Israel Prison Service. The prison was opened in 1950, and was built in the style of the Tegart forts from the Brit ...

emerged in 2013, following the exposure of the

death of Ben Zygier Ben Zygier was an Australian-Israeli citizen who was a veteran of the Israel Defense Forces and allegedly an agent of Mossad. He was imprisoned in Ayalon Prison, Ramla, Israel and died in custody in 2010, reportedly by hanging himself in a max ...

. Israeli Foreign Minister

Avigdor Lieberman Avigdor Lieberman (, ; russian: Эве́т Льво́вич Ли́берман, Evet Lvovich Liberman, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician serving as Minister of Finance since 2021, having previously served twice as Deput ...

, who chaired the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

Committee on Defense and Foreign Affairs, told Knesset members the case was "extremely serious" but that the prisoner's rights were being upheld. Israeli

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solici ...

Avigdor Feldman Avigdor Feldman ( he, אביגדור פלדמן, born 7 July 1948), is a civil and human rights lawyer in Israel. Early life and education Feldman was born in Tel Aviv in 1948 to parents who were Holocaust survivors. His brother, Hanan Peled, is ...

described this case as "a terrible security breach", and "much more grave, sensational, amazing and riveting from Zygier's case." The case was kept secret in Israel, and reports about it were deleted from Israeli

news site An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Going online created more opportunities for news ...

s. In May 2018,

Richard Silverstein Tikun Olam ( he, תיקון עולם ''tikkun olam'', "repairing the world") is a Seattle-based political blog that regularly reports on Israeli security matters. The blog was created in 2003 by Richard Silverstein and covers the Arab–Israeli c ...

of ''Tikun Olam,'' citing the work of Amir Oren with ''

Walla! Walla! Communications Ltd. ( he, וואלה! תקשורת בע"מ) is an Israeli internet company headquartered in Tel Aviv and is fully owned by The Jerusalem Post. Until 2020, it was fully owned by Bezeq. Walla!'s web portal provides news, s ...

,'' reported that Prisoner X2, still unidentified, had been released from custody.Silverstein, Richard (May 7, 2018)
Trump Operatives Hired Israeli Dirty Ops Firm, Black Cube, to Dig Dirt on Obama’s Iran Team; Israel Releases Prisoner X2, Former Senior Mossad Official Secretly Imprisoned for Betraying Israel
(citing report by Amir Oren of

). Tikun Olam (blog). Viewed May 2, 2021.

References

External links

Lieberman reveals: The second X prisoner is involved in an "extremely grave case"
(in Hebrew), Nrg, July 10, 2013
Sources in Prison Service tell Haaretz: The second X prisoner is being held in total isolation for years
(in Hebrew), Haaretz, July 10, 2013
What We Know — and Don't Know — About Israel's Prisoner X2
The Forward, July 14, 2013
Israel's 'Prisoner X2' case raises concerns
Deutsche Welle, July 18, 2013 {{Iran–Israel proxy conflict People of the Mossad People convicted of treason against Israel Incarcerated spies Double agents People convicted of spying Post–Cold War spies Ayalon Prison inmates Censorship in Israel Iranian spies Iran–Israel relations Unidentified people