Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr has confirmed his department was made aware in 2010 that an Australian man, believed to be Prisoner X, was being held in a super-secret Israeli jail.
The ABC's Foreign Correspondent program last night revealed the likely identity of Prisoner X as Melbourne man Ben Zygier - aka Ben Alon or Ben Allen - who was found dead in a prison near Tel Aviv in late 2010.
A spokeswoman for Senator Carr says the Minister was initially advised that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) was unaware of Zygier's detention.
"DFAT has now advised that some officers of the department were made aware of Mr Allen's detention at the time in 2010 by another Australian agency," the spokeswoman said in a statement.
"Minister Carr has asked department secretary, Mr Peter Varghese, to review the handling of this consular case."
Read Trevor Bormann's original story here Watch the full Foreign Correspondent report on Prisoner X on iview Zygier's arrest and jailing in Israel remains a mystery, but the ABC understands he had been recruited by spy agency Mossad.
It is understood he "disappeared" in early 2010, spending several months in the Prisoner X cell at Ayalon Prison in the city of Ramla before being found dead.
The Prisoner X case is regarded as one of the most sensitive secrets of Israel's intelligence community, with the government going to extraordinary lengths to stifle media coverage and gag attempts by human rights organisations to expose the situation.
Israeli censors today banned media reports based on the Foreign Correspondent program.
Seeking explanation
The country's embassy in Canberra has declined to comment, although its ambassador today met Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop for a pre-arranged meeting.
Speaking before the meeting, Ms Bishop said she would be raising the case with the ambassador and was concerned the Israeli government was censoring media reports.
"That's a matter that I'll raise directly with the Israeli embassy to get an understanding of the basis for it," she said.
"If there are security considerations I can understand it, but if it's just about embarrassing a government agency, then that certainly requires an explanation and I'll be seeking one."
A spokesman for Ms Bishop says the ambassador undertook to pass on her concerns to "relevant authorities" in Israel.
This morning, Zygier's musician uncle Willy Zygier, who is the partner of Melbourne singer Deborah Conway, told ABC Local Radio in Melbourne that he had "no idea what is true, what isn't true".
"All I know is there's a family tragedy. Every suicide is a tragedy. That's all I've got to say," he said.
Zygier's family has previously declined to speak to the ABC, and friends and acquaintances approached by Foreign Correspondent in Melbourne had also refused to comment.
