ASHKELON, Israel — Mordechai Vanunu was to walk out of Shikma prison today after an 18-year sentence for exposing Israel’s nuclear weapons program, but hardly as a free man.
The former technician at Israel’s Dimona nuclear plant who divulged top secret details and pictures of the reactor to the London Sunday Times in 1986, is barred from traveling abroad for at least a year and may not speak with foreign citizens without approval from the Israeli government.
While considered a hero by the dozens of international peace activists who gathered yesterday in Ashkelon to greet him — including Irish Nobel Peace Prize-winner Mairead Corrigan Maguire — the 49-year-old whistleblower is still considered a threat by Israeli security officials.
“Vanunu possesses state secrets, several of which he has yet to reveal and which have yet to be published,” said a statement released by Israel’s interior ministry.
“It is clear that there is a tangible danger with a high degree of probability that Vanunu wishes to divulge state secrets, secrets that have yet to be divulged and which have not been previously published.”
Critics of the limitations say that they are liable to boomerang by keeping Vanunu and Israel’s controversial nuclear weapons program in the international spotlight.
Vanunu, whose revelations in a front-page expose partially dispersed the fog surrounding the only nuclear power in the Middle East, was snatched in Italy soon afterward by agents of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service.
Months later, he was convicted of treason by a three-judge panel in a closed trial in Israel. The first 11 years of his sentence were spent in solitary confinement — conditions decried by international human rights groups.
Now that his sentence is over, the limitations on Vanunu’s movements are being challenged by Israel’s civil liberties watchdog, which says they are without precedent and will probably be appealed to the Supreme Court.
“These restrictions are extremely difficult to follow. Almost every movement of his is problematic,” said Yoav Loeff, a spokesman for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. “We claim that it’s like moving him from a small jail to a bigger jail.”
Vanunu must notify security authorities before traveling outside the greater Tel Aviv metropolitan area. He is also forbidden to engage in chat sessions over the Internet, enter foreign embassies, or come within 550 yards of a border crossing or airport.
Some restrictions were dropped at the last minute, such as a ban on surfing the Internet or greeting foreigners.
Many officials wanted to go further, recommending that Vanunu continue to be held under administrative detention regulations normally used to hold Palestinians for periods of months without a trial.
“In order to sell our image we are taking unnecessary risks,” said Yuval Shteinitz, chairman of the foreign affairs and defense committee of the parliament. “There are many issues that can cause a lot of damage after 20 or 30 years. He’s already betrayed this country once.”
Across the street from the prison gates, supporters stood yesterday wearing black gags and carrying signs saying, “Democracy, Human Rights and Mordechai Vanunu.”
But most Israelis see Vanunu as a traitor. One motorist who passed in front of the demonstrators yesterday spat out the window and yelled curses with Vanunu’s name.
The Shin Bet security agency, perhaps hoping to reinforce that image, on Sunday released an interview in which Vanunu described Judaism as a “backward religion” and expressed support for a binational Israeli-Palestinian state.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.