Over the past week, there has been huge controversy and many revelations over the death of Israeli intelligence officer Tomer Eiges. The AMAN officer died in his cell in military prison. Accusations of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) trying to cover up the biggest espionage story of the decade quickly followed.
This came after IDF denials the officer had been charged with espionage when other sources claimed the IDF had indeed brought charges against Eiges. Suspicion around the IDF's actions was further heightened after officials refused to provide any details about the nature of Eiges' death despite an internal investigation.
Revelations after pressure piled on by media and public
The caginess of the IDF led to mounting pressure from both the Israeli press and the public, leading to IDF officials finally releasing more details. Over the past few days alone, there has been confirmation that the officer had committed a very serious offence. In addition, details about the nature of his death have been released.
IDF officials speak out
Earlier this week, Lt. Col. (Res.) Amnon Lipkin-Shahak said: “I want to say most clearly that the officer of the IDF is a soldier of mine, of all of us, even if he committed a very serious offense. The officer of the IDF committed very serious offenses. He did them consciously, he did them on purpose for reasons I cannot describe.”
At that time, he also said, “This officer is unlike Prisoner X or anything they try to describe. He was in his full name from the moment he was arrested, and even before of course, in contact with his family and those around him in prison. Everything we did was to save his modesty and the modesty of his family out of fair treatment.”
Details of the death of the officer
This was then swiftly followed by details of the death of the officer being revealed. Following the autopsy, details were finally revealed relating to the death, with confirmation that drugs had been found in the officer’s system.
It was already known that he had been on prescribed antipsychotics and antidepressants, but it was alleged that he might have taken more than he was supposed to. It emerged that there was video surveillance of the officer taking at least four pills, and there was speculation that he may have had more stashed in the bathroom.
Reasons behind his actions
In the latest revelation, there were claims that the reason why Eiges had become involved in activities designed to cause huge damage was to prove a point. Press reports claimed that the officer had not been involved for any political reason or under duress but to prove that he could succeed where other people had failed.
Further claims were made that the officer had caused significant damage and that the extent of this would have been even worse had he not been arrested at the eleventh hour.
It also emerged that Eiges had initially been turned down for the intelligence unit he worked in because of a ‘childish personality’. However, because of his intelligence and what he could offer, his application was examined again, and he was recruited.
