Summary
Former technician (1954–) at the Nuclear Research Center near Dimona, where he worked from 1977 to 1985, whose revelations to the London Sunday Times — published October 5, 1986 as “Revealed: The Secrets of Israel’s Nuclear Arsenal” — cracked the “Policy of Opacity”, and who was abducted, tried in camera and sentenced to eighteen years in prison (Zionist Israel and the Question of Palestine, PDF p.130-131 / printed p.121-122).
Details
- Scientists consulted by the Sunday Times Insight team concluded from Vanunu’s evidence that Israel was the sixth nuclear power and had produced one hundred to two hundred nuclear weapons at Dimona (PDF p.130-131).
- Vanunu was lured from London to Rome by a Mossad agent, taken to Israel, convicted of espionage and treason on March 24, 1988, and held in solitary confinement until international pressure lifted it after eleven years; released on April 21, 2004, his freedom of movement remains highly restricted (PDF p.131).
- Peres is quoted on the prosecution: “Even if Vanunu’s information about nuclear weapons is incorrect, Israel should still prosecute him because he does not have the right to talk about such matters. He has betrayed state secrets.” (PDF p.132)
- Amnesty International called his detention conditions “cruel and inhumane”, as noted in the work’s footnote (PDF p.133).
Related pages
Vanunu Affair, Policy of Opacity, Dimona, Shimon Peres, Zionist Israel and the Question of Palestine