been about to "blow the whistle" on Israeli intelligence operations involving the use of forged Australian passports, and was about to reveal the information either to the Australian government or to the media before he was arrested. An Australian security official was quoted as saying that Zygier "may well have been about to blow the whistle, but he never got the chance". On 31 January 2010, Zygier was arrested. Eight days later after Dubai revealed details about the assassination of Hamas leader, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Israel informed Australia of Zygier's arrest. A source told ABC's Foreign Correspondent program that Zygier leaked information on his work with Mossad to ASIO. He allegedly detailed numerous Mossad operations, including a future mission in Italy that had been planned over a number of years. There was no information given as to whether ASIO or Zygier initiated the contact. Israel and Australia have both denied the allegation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office stated that "Mr Zygier had no contact with the Australian security services and organisations", whilst a spokeswoman for the Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has described the Israeli statement as consistent with the full briefing ASIO gave the Attorney-General. Sources close to Mossad expressed doubts that talking to Australian security services would 'earn' Zygier such a harsh treatment. However, Israeli journalist Alon Ben-David, who is familiar with the case but is still bound by the gag order, suggested that "it's fair to assume that Zygier was charged with divulging state secrets to a foreign element", but noted he did not act out of malice, but out of distress. He further stated that "They were negotiating a plea bargain and it was not about a serious punishment, but a moderate one." On 24 March 2013, Der Spiegel reported that Zygier had leaked the names of two Mossad informants in Lebanon who had infiltrated Hezbollah: Ziad al-Homsi and Mustafa Ali Awadeh, to a Hezbollah supporter. Homsi and Awadeh were arrested on espionage charges and sentenced to 15 years' hard labour; their arrests also led to a widely publicised wave of arrests of Lebanese citizens accused of spying for Israel. The newspaper claimed to have obtained a copy of an internal Israeli inquiry, which stated that Zygier began working for Mossad at age 23. He was sent to work in European companies doing business with Iran and Syria with the purpose of penetrating those countries. A year