According to Silverstein, Eiges served as as an officer in Unit 8200, IDF's SIGINT (signals intelligence) unit, as a cybersecurity officer. Unit 8200 is one of IDF's claims to fame and also one of its most secretive units. [xii] Unit 8200 has its dark side as well. The unit engages, among other tasks, in totalitarian surveillance of all in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Of note, Unit 8200 was employed, together with Shin Bet, in a vain attempt s to combat the Covid-19 epidemic by cutting transmission chains. [xiii] Therefore, during the epidemic, most of the Israeli public for the first time realized that they were living under a digital-totalitarian regime...
Anybody who followed the news, figured that out much earlier: In 2014, Unit 8200 gained international infamy when a group of over 40 active reserve soldiers and officers signed a public letter to Netanyahu and military chiefs, declaring their conscientious objection to further engage in surveillance of Palestinians. The letter exposed systematic abuse of innocent Palestinians, conduct that is typically associated with the most repressive dictators and police states" [xiv] Earlier, in 2003, another case was published, of a Unit 8200 officer, who declared his conscientious objection and refused to cooperate with providing targets for air bombing in the Palestinian territories, since such bombing would have led to the killing of innocent people. [xv]
On the other hand, in 2016 it was exposed the dozens of Unit 8200 officer hacked into the IDF human resources IT systems and scheduled for themselves hotel vacations. Their conduct appeared criminal on its face, but eventually they were not held accountable, for fear that they would leave the military en masse. [xvi]
Cyber activists are targeted for special punishment...
Tomer Eiges's case immediately reminds one of the cases of Ed Snowden and Aaron Swartz. In both cases, the US justice system applied vengeance, leading to Snowden's escape to Russia and to Swartz's suicide... Eiges's long-term solitary confinement also reminds one of the fate of Julian Assange...
Long-term pre-trial detention, such as in Eiges's case, is practically unheard of in Israel, even in the cases of organized-crime top figures. The exception was in the case of blogger Lori Shem-Tov. There too, it was a case of vengeance by the state. [xvii]
Of note, all four persons - Snowden, Swartz, Assange and Shem-Tov - were involved in the cyber field one way or another ...
What caused Eiges's harsh punishment ?
Beyond Eiges's extreme punishment by long-term solitary confinement, news reports indicated that the Israeli authorities were systematically working to erase his existence from public platforms such as social networks... an unusual and inexplicable treatment...
In view of all the above, it is almost beyond any doubt that the affair originated in some cyber incidents related to extremely secretive matter. Two main lines of speculation can be inferred. First, non-ideological cybersecurity breach: It is possible that Eiges, in his capacity as a cybersecurity officer, or otherwise , hacked into some Israeli government site, which he should have never hacked into... Thereby he was exposed to some state secrets, and was therefore transformed into a security threat, or even an enemy of the state, which required total isolation or worse... Second, ideological cybersecurity breach: It is possible that Eiges, in his capacity as a cybersecurity officer, or otherwise, hacked into some Israeli government sites and deliberately interfered with their functions out of ideological motives.
In both cases, if foul play is speculated as the cause of death, it could have resulted from the realization that it would be practically impossible to hold him incommunicado for ever, and the case a total secret as the state wished, given his young age, his family and friends, the nature of the state of Israel, and today's internet information-flow reality.
Transformation of the Israeli public
The case of Tomer Eiges is exceptional in view of public response. In previous cases, such as the suicide of Ben Zygier, media expressed concern, as well as the Association for Civil Rights in Israel [ACRI]: [xviii]
ACRI Legal Counsel, Attorney Dan Yakir, "Even in cases, where there is justification for gag orders and for trial behind closed doors, one cannot accept secret detentions and secret trials in a democratic state. The courts must not act as rubber stamps for requests by the security apparatus. They must employ independent discretion, protect the public's right to know, and permit at least minimal public scrutiny of the proceedings. The authorities in general and the security apparatus in particular tend to hide their failures and negligence, and the courts should guarantee that claims of harm to state security would not be abused. Regretfully, such was not the courts' conduct in this case."
The same can be said of course in Tomer Eiges's case. However, in this case, the moment significant details were disclosed, public protest erupted. Not surprisingly, the organizers of the the protest, scheduled for this evening, largely overlap with those who were active in the protests against the Netanyahu government in recent years. The revelations regarding corruption of the Netanyahu government and the justice system led to transformation in public opinion, particularly among the younger generation. [xix] It can be summed as "loss of innocence" regarding state and its institutions.
Even more surprising was an obituary notice by Tomer Eiges's father's colleagues. It turned out that the father worked at Rafael (military industry). The obituary notice stated that his colleagues were ready to stand by the family in whatever protest they wished to engage in...
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
