Prisoner X by Rafael Epstein

Author:Rafael Epstein [Epstein, Rafael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical, Biography & Autobiography, Political Science, Political, Intelligence & Espionage
ISBN: 9780522864410
Google: F47wAgAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 20974614
Publisher: Melbourne Univ. Publishing
Published: 2014-02-26T00:00:00+00:00

PRISONER

A Chaotic Nexus

By late December 2009, the calls from Tel Aviv had likely become more urgent as the Mossad tried to persuade Ben to return to Israel without revealing the depth of its concerns. I believe that at this time, Ben still thought that if he just spoke with his handlers, he would be able to straighten things out. He probably thought he could talk his way out of any difficulty, because he always had before. I don’t think he knew the agency was investigating whether he’d leaked secrets. This explains why he seems to have planned on staying in Israel only a short time—in early January 2010, when Ben and his family suddenly left Australia, they left behind a flat that was still full of important documents, furniture, clothes, toys and other possessions. However, in reality, it would be months before Haya returned, by which time her husband would be in jail.

Ben didn’t tell most of his family or close friends about the trip to Israel. ‘It was kind of weird,’ says one friend. ‘One day we were told, “Oh, they’ve gone for a couple of weeks.”’ Another friend says, ‘They left and we didn’t get to say goodbye. I thought, “I’ll just see them when they get back,” and I kept asking, “When are they back? When are they back?” … I remember being surprised that they’d gone back to Israel when they did because it seemed so close to the beginning of the school year.’

Soon after Ben had flown from the heat of a Melbourne summer into a mild Israeli winter, Jason Koutsoukis again called him on his mobile phone. This time, says Koutsoukis, Ben sounded angry: ‘Who the fuck are you and what is this total bullshit you are telling me?’ He seemed shocked by the suggestion he was under surveillance. ‘I have never been to any of those countries that you say I have been to,’ Ben had said. ‘I am not involved in any kind of spying. That is ridiculous.’1 Reflecting on this conversation three years later, Koutsoukis tells me that Ben actually seemed more frustrated than angry: ‘He was really rude to me. But I had that feeling you get when you’re trying to get an interview and you’ve tried one too many times, and then they just get pissed off with you and they say, “Listen, just leave me alone.”’

Ben would’ve been rattled by the phone call from Koutsoukis. He also would have spoken with his managers at the Mossad by this point and would have known he was in trouble, though not how much. Ben was telling friends he would be in Israel for longer than he anticipated, that he had more unspecified work to do. I imagine this led to a conversation in Raanana with Haya during which he tried to explain to her what was going on and admitted that he couldn’t tell her when they’d be able to return to Australia. I picture Ben and Haya walking around the park in the middle of their suburb, talking about what they could or should do.

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