קרוב משפחתו של סרן תומר אייגס, על נסיבות מות הקצין בכלא הצבאי: ברור לי שבוצע פשע
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Over the past few days, I broke the story of AMAN cyber-intelligence analyst, Capt. Tomer Eiges, age 25, who died in a military prison last month. The Shin Bet arrested and charged him secretly, according to the security source I consulted, with espionage.
After I published my first story on the case, Israeli media began to clamor for the military censor to release more details for publication. Until I published his name, the media could only report the barest details of the case.
The family has also taken issue with the claim that he committed suicide in his prison cell. Today, a military appeals court permitted publication of details stating that Eiges had not been charged with espionage or treason and that he had not been spying for a foreign country.
If that’s so, then why is Eiges buried in the civilian portion of the cemetery? It is customary for army veterans to be buried with their military comrades. Apparently, the army prohibited Eiges’ from being buried in the military section of the cemetery where he was buried. Why?
My source responded to this court release with the following:
“I dare the military court to release the full – and I mean full! – charge sheet and court sessions protocols.”
A Source Close to the Family
I’ve learned from a source familiar with the family that Eiges joined the IDF and did his regular service in Unit 8200, the famed SIGINT branch. When he completed his regular service he enlisted as a career officer in AMAN.
The woman (source) also said that when Eiges was arrested, ten IDF officers came to the parent’s home in the middle of the night and made them sign a form committing to remain silent about his arrest. They agreed to do so. They didn’t even tell their daughters (Eiges’ sisters) about his arrest for months afterward. In fact, the father works for a major Israeli military contractor and could have used his contacts to lobby on behalf of his son. But he honored his written commitment. The only visits Eiges were permitted were once a week 20-minute meetings with his family.
The IDF would not permit Eiges to hire his own lawyer, so a military defense lawyer represented him. Originally there were 36 charges filed against him. But a military judge urged the parties to enter mediation. As a result the charges were whittled down to 18.
This source also revealed other aspects of the case including the fact that a prison psychiatrist had prescribed Eiges anti-depressants because he suffered from depression due to his imprisonment. After their son’s death, the parents hired a pathologist who performed an autopsy. He could find no physical cause of death and ruled out strangulation, heart attack and other causes. He sent a toxicology blood panel for analysis, but the results are not yet known.
She also revealed that Eiges had requested that he be housed with other officers in the prison, but the authorities refused, telling him that this would prevent them from monitoring his cell.
News reports today do reveal that he had been indicted, but that he had not been put on trial. It’s customary in such national security cases if there is a trial, for it be in secret as well. But the State far prefers for defendants to take a plea deal so that it does not expose, even accidentally, any State secrets or intelligence methods. This may be why Eiges, like Ben Zygier before him, were held for months without trial, a form of abuse in its own right. Such isolation and long intervals of uncertainty can easily unbalance the minds of such prisoners. Though I have no idea whether that is what happened in Eiges’ case.
Another source with knowledge of the circumstances contacted me after I published my story. This is a slightly edited excerpt of his account of the Tomer he knew:
I knew Tomer first as a toddler. As I lived abroad for years, my main contact was…with his parents The second time I associated with him, was two years ago, following the death of his aunt.
As a young man, Tomer was outstandingly noble, warm in a quiet way, clearly into family. I was updated often about his incredible gifts and astounding young achievements. In person, one wouldn’t guess [at them]. The humility… He helped my elderly mom, teaching her basic uses of the computer and other devices.
While I am very grateful for your excellent post, delivering [his] name [and] a handsome precious face to the world, the ‘suicide conclusion’ is very questionable and should not be used freely. The first publication in the media noting that word, made little sense. It is clear to me a crime took place. It is significantly more than an embarrassment that’s [been] laundered…The investigation has only addressed the prison’s role [in his death]. Far from where his fate was determined.
Any thinking person would recognize there is no real investigation. Out of commitment to his parents and their sovereignty, & frankly out of not knowing beyond the current impossible blur [of events] , there’s little i could add. I do take the liberty though to express my anger about his rushed burial on May 19th.
The belief by a close relative that the burial of the victim was “rushed” raises a red flag. Given that Eiges died under mysterious circumstances, this would ordinarily demand an autopsy be performed. When one is done, the family is permitted to appoint its own pathologist to join the state coroner in examining the body. Given his burial only two days after his death, it would appear an autopsy was not done. Or if it was, it would have been performed in a hasty manner.
As the family member notes above, the only aspect of the case investigated was the performance of the prison personnel. How did the prisoner die? If he killed himself, how could he have done so given the CCTV surveillance that would be demanded in a case like this?
Though the family and court have denied Eiges was charged with espionage, why was he held secretly in prison for nine months before his death? Why won’t the State say anything about what it suspected him of doing? Though my source did say he was charged with espionage, he refused to expand upon the nature of his alleged crime.
Eiges’ parents are understandably indignant with the media coverage of their son’s death. They reject out of hand that he would engage in espionage or take his own life. The problem with Israel being a State which maintains opacity concerning matters such as this is that neither the parents nor the public can know what they need to in order to determine what really happened. This is a cruel way for the nation to treat the bereaved. Not only has the State played a role in the death of their child, it refuses to reveal anything substantive about what he did or what happened to him. This sort of secrecy is corrosive not only of democracy, but of human lives.
NOTE: I want to thank the Israelis who were sources and messengers in researching and reporting this story; and also those who posted comments naming Tomer with links to these posts at Haaretz. Unfortunately, it seems to have deleted them in service to the Almighty Censor. Keep up the fight. We will win.
I understood the State withdrew his military status … not sure at which moment.
According to the news reports, Eiges military status was withdrawn while he was still in prison, so there wouldn’t be any reason to bury him in a military cemetary.
“Though my source did say he was charged with espionage, he refused to expand upon the nature of his alleged crime. ”
Curious why Richard’s source won’t reveal the alleged crime of espionage, now that Tomer is dead.
I think it’s most likely that Richard’s source is blowing smoke.
@ Rev Wright: The military shouldn’t get to decide this. He was a veteran and an officer of the IDF. He was loved by his fellow officers. He deserved to be buried with them.
My source is a security source. If you can’t figure out why he would seek to preserve secrecy around the charges relating to his alleged crimes, then you’re stupider than even I gave you credit for.
My source has been accurate about everything he’s reported. But if he is blowing smoke, I hope it’s up your a**.
Hi Richard,
“My source is a security source. If you can’t figure out why he would seek to preserve secrecy around the charges relating to his alleged crimes, then you’re stupider than even I gave you credit for.”
I don’t understant it, can you please elaborate why your source would seek to preserve secrecy around the charges?
Best,
@ Mike: Let’s say you know you have someone working in military intelligence who’s done something he shouldn’t. Let’s say he is arrested and charged with a serious crime.
Do you want anything known about what he did, how he did it, why he did it? Or do you Want to protect the intelligence processes he was working on?
This seems elementary. Why would you or anyone else need this explained to you?
Pastor Richard,
“Do you want anything known about what he did, how he did it, why he did it? Or do you Want to protect the intelligence processes he was working on? ”
And this can be accomplished by keeping him in secret lockup and giving him a secret trial. To wit; you have inadvertently justified the very same thing that the military did to Eiges, Zigler, etal.
@ Rev Washington: No it can’t be accomplished because in all of these cases secrecy was eventually exposed and the alleged crimes were as well. The IDF & Mossad ended up with a black eye in all these cases of Israeli spies who betrayed their country. Neither their alleged crimes nor their sentences were successfully suppressed.
“Do you want anything known about what he did, how he did it, why he did it? Or do you Want to protect the intelligence processes he was working on?”
This is what I don’t understand. The news reported that he wasn’t indicted on espionage, or related to it,charges.
However, your source claims he was.
I’m not arguing with you or your source, I just don’t understand whythere’s a conflict in the first place.
Why not publish the charges against Tomer z”l ?
Best,
This is another example of why Israel is not a democratic state. Britain has been awash with details of its own spies such as Kim Philby but in Israel even the fact of holding a trial is secret.
[comment deleted: I do not accept posts by hasbaroids pretending to be Arabs by using fake Arab names as their handles. You are pathetic.]
Tectonic shift possible?
I received a message an open letter to be send by Dutch Reformed preachers of neglect of the Palestinian people by the church for 73 years after the Nakba. They spoke of turning a blind eye to the “sin of occupation and oppression”.
This article could be a breakthrough …
Support for Israel is even dropping among evangelical Christians
I’m afraid this is irrelevant to the topic. But Evangelical Christians have more respect to Israel than pity for the Naqba. Oui, Israel has its issues but you seem to imply that Israel IS the issue The destruction of Israel would not help anything, accept it.
@ Dan G: Evangelicals don’t “respect” Israel. They want Armageddon and the destruction of the Jewish people to bring the Second Coming. Israel is a tool to bring that about. Nothing more.
Of course Israel is THE issue. Nor am I advocating the “destruction of Israel.” Israel will exist, but in different political form than it does now.
“Israel has its issues?” Really? That’s as far as you’re willing to go?
[comment deleted: repeated off topic comments are violations of the comment rules. Since you have trouble following them, you’ll be moderated and only comments that respect the rules will be published.]
Another off-topic comment from Oui ..
@ Deir Yassin: I agree with her, Oui. Stop wandering. I know you mean well. But a little more discipline is called for.
@ Oui: I appreciate your efforts. I really do. But this comment is off-topic. Please have more discipline. You are more than welcome to post such links to my Facebook or Twitter accounts where they will get some visibility (in fact possibly more than they do here). But the comment threads aren’t the right place.
Thanks for your efforts to reveal as much details as possible about this horrible case. My hope is that such cases would not happen again where a soldier and his family are abused for such a long time. A public demand and pressure for unbiased investigation and conclusions are a must.
Whatever the circumstances, this death of a young man is a tragedy.
its all about PEGASUS. don’t get it wrong 😉
“ten IDF officers came to the parent’s home in the middle of the night and made them sign a form committing to remain silent about his arrest. They agreed to do so”
=> Why did the parents agreed to be scilensed???
@ Eitan: I cannot speak for the parents. But in such a situation when you fear for your child and a powerful state body comes to you trying to intimidate you by claiming that your refusal to agree to their demands could jeopardize him and send him to jail for life. Then you might buckle under such extraordinary pressure.
Thank you for bringing this up. I feel sick.
Please don’t let them (us, our authorities) to pass this one out as if nothing happened.
I try to think why the State of Israel and the army refuse to reveal what the suspicions and accusations were against that officer?
1. Spying / betrayal.
Even if this is true – Publication of this will not be so bad and will not cause lasting damage to the army.
This will cause citizens to ask questions about what the officer died of and where are the videos from the security cameras? Did they poison him or attack him? Any criminal prisoner, military or security, is under the responsibility of the state and the prison.
On the other hand, it will prove that the army criticizes itself so that there will be no soldiers or commanders within the army who have improved the provisions and laws.
2. Hacking into computers or phones of the citizens of the country.
Publication of this will cause angry and ongoing criticism for a long time against the military
Because citizens will suddenly realize that they are exposed and may have had their passwords and files stolen, watched and listened to through the camera and microphones and see which sites they browse and who they chat or meet with and from there the easy way to keep this information about civilians outside military systems like a private external hard drive or cloud storage account Of the same officer.
Maybe he just mine Bitcoin using The IDF Supercomputer…
First of all I have to say that there is no connection between the death of Lt.Col.Dr. Avi Harlev in January 2021 and this of Captain Tomer Agis, there is a possibility that Harlev committed suicide, though there are some wierd things about him. He had just returned from his military unit and had a family member who worked in Intelligence Branch. Tomer Egies was arrested late at night and he and his parents were silenced for 9 months. The IDF did not lie that he was not alone in his cell because the inmates were undercover agents to extort information that could not have been produced during his ongoing interrogation. Tomer “actions that severely damaged national security” were so severe that if they had reached our allies they could have endangered the IDF’s chain of command. This is why even the IDF confirmed that he was sent through several prisons and was repeatedly interviewed by several Intel ,Mossad, Aman operatives. What the IDF is trying to hide is information is that he was not solitary conffinment . Visits by his family members and two friends were made possible on pre-agreed terms on very strict conditions. In mid-May 2021, as it was clear that Netanyahu was losing the election, he was offered a bridge plra bargain deal by IDF, if he would have agreed he would spend 10 years or more in prison. Of course he did not agree then during a the visit of military prosecutor regarding that deal and colapssed and died (Haaretz) He and his parents are also American citizens and if the information he discovered and copied along with info as into the orders he disobeyed came to our allies, then I can say we may have had a serious problem. I have no doubt he disputed his commanders even so he had no intention in betraying us ! I do not think the IDF lied when they said that Tomer decided to resign from the IDF, but since he died in the military prison he must be buried as a citizen in the military cemetery ! Captain Tomer Agis was eliminated, may he rest in peace ! Sooner or later IDF will be found guilty of wrong doing it seems it was a political oriented elimination ,
in any state, the rights of an individual cannot, will not, and should not supersede national security. the only question worth asking is “what did he do”. anything else is irrelevant.
@ israeli:
Dead wrong. In any democratic state the rights of the individual are sacrosanct and protected from being trampled by state power. That’s precisely why Israel is not a democracy. And it’s no wonder you don’t believe in democracy since Israel isn’t one.
Only in a racist, apartheid national security state does a citizen like you permit the security apparatus to run roughshod over individual rights while the citizen says: fine by me. Take my rights, I don’t need them. Of course, when they come and take your own rights rather than the other guy’s, then you howl bloody murder.