Close up of Zygier's tombstone
Close up of Zygier's tombstoneReuters

A report on Australian news outlet ABC may shed light on the reasons for Ben Zygier's arrest by Israel.

The suspected Mossad agent "was arrested by his own spymasters after they believed he told Australia's domestic intelligence agency about every aspect of his work with the Israelis," unspecified sources told ABC.

According to the outlet, which broke the Zygier story, Zygier met with officers from Australian intelligence agency ASIO in Australia and gave them "comprehensive detail" about a number of Mossad operations, including plans for a top-secret mission in Italy that had been years in the making.

Sources told the news outlet that on one of four trips back to Australia in the years before his death in 2010, Zygier applied for a work visa to Italy.

ABC's Foreign Correspondent show has been told Zygier set up a communications company in Europe for Mossad, a venture that employed two other Australian dual citizens in Mossad's employment.

The company exported electronic components to Arab countries as well as Iran.