The intelligence officer who died in military prison last month was behind bars for knowingly committing offenses that caused “severe damage to national security,” the IDF said after new details of the case were cleared for release.
According to the IDF, an investigation into Officer X, whose identity still remains under a gag order, was opened “following information regarding a serious breach of state security.”
The investigation into the officer, who served in a technological unit in the Intelligence Division, found that he had “consciously carried out a number of acts that severely damaged state security” and had been “aware of the potential damage to national security as a result of his actions and even tried to hide them.”
The officer cooperated in his interrogation and confessed to many of the acts attributed to him,” the IDF said, adding that the investigation found he had “acted independently for personal motives and not for ideological, nationalist or economic motives.”
At the end of the investigation, he was indicted on charges alleging serious security offenses, and “weight was given to the significant damage caused by the alleged offenses,” the military said.
The hearings were held behind closed doors “for reasons of national security,” and the officer’s family was present at some of the hearings, it said.
“The officer was not charged with espionage or treason and had not been in contact with or used by a foreign agent,” and after his death, the charges against him were dropped, the IDF said.
The officer’s family has been blocked from knowing the details of the investigation. On Monday, family members said they want to learn what happened before the gag order was lifted and the general public learned the details of the case.
During an open-door session, the IDF Military Prosecution said it was seeking to remove segments of the gag order on the case since there have been a number of articles published both in Israel and abroad about it, with some violating the gag order and endangering national security, while others published misleading or incorrect articles.
The Military Prosecution also asked that the gag order be lifted regarding the medical treatment given to the officer and the conditions of his incarceration.
The reason for his arrest and other details have not been permitted to be published.
The family’s lawyer, Lt.-Col. (res.) Benny Kuznitz, said: “As someone who accompanied the officer from the day of his arrest until his tragic death, I got to know a young man with values, who in his eyes did everything in his power and talent to protect national security.”
The man, whose identity is under two gag orders by the military censor and the courts, died in the newly opened Neve Tzedek prison during the fighting between Israel and terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip.
He had been behind bars since September and was in touch with the prison staff and other inmates. He was not held in solitary confinement but in a cell with other inmates, which was under surveillance at all times.
During his imprisonment, the IDF said he had been granted all of his rights, regularly received medical treatment, saw his family members regularly and kept in touch with his friends. Officials from the Intelligence Division also visited him several times, the military said.
The officer was found in serious condition in his cell on the night of May 16 and later pronounced dead at the hospital.
An autopsy was carried out, and a doctor representing the family was present. The results of the toxicology tests have yet to be received, and the official cause of death has not been given.
The officer was found with Ritalin and antidepressants in his pocket when he was found in his cell, Channel 12 reported.
The family has rejected claims that he had taken his own life.
One close family member wrote a letter to outgoing President Reuven Rivlin and said the IDF was responsible for his “murder.”
“Even if he committed suicide, with all the security and security cameras in the prison, it’s criminal murder,” she wrote.
He was buried in a civilian cemetery and will not be considered as a fallen soldier since he had been released from the IDF while in prison at his own request.
The representative of the Military Prosecutor’s Office, Lt.-Col. Matan Smolush, said it was a “tragic and shocking incident,” and some of the publications about the officer and his death “contain an inaccurate representation of the late officer.”
“There is no longer any fear of obstruction of justice, and therefore, there is no impediment to lifting the gag order,” he said Monday.