Vanunu

If there one person who has done more than anyone else in terms of exposing Israel’s nuclear program, it’s Mordechai Vanunu, when he revealed information to the British press in 1986.

Mordechai Vanunu was born in Morrocco to an orthodox Jew family. When Mordechai was 10 his family moved to Israel and made a modest living. In Israel his family made a modest living, by owning a grocery store. During high school, Mordechai reach a person crisis where he noticed the evils of Judaism and stopped practicing this religion. He was still conscripted into the IDF, where he became a combat engineer and sapper, where he saw combat during the Yom Kippur War. After his time in the service, he tried to send himself to college while also working at the same time, working at a bakery and retirement home. Vanunu found it difficult to both work and go to school full time. This caused him to move back in with his family.

While living back home, Mordechai heard from his brother that the Negev Nuclear Research Center was looking to hire technicians. After lengthy interviews and the signing of an NDA Mordechai was accepted in Negev’s training program, where he studied physics, chemistry, mathematics, first aid, fire drill, and English, to become a material processing technician. Mordechai was given good pay, but had to agree that he would not visit an Arab or Communist country within 5 years of leaving his employment there. At the plant he worked in processing nuclear material.

During his time as a worker, he was considered to be a good worker, but outside of work Mordechai political views changed. During1982 Lebanon War he was called up to fight as a reservist, where he refused combat duties, and instead was forced to work in an IDF field kitchen. In 1984, two years after he form his own left-wing political group known as the “Campus,” consisting of him, 5 Arabs students, and 4 Jewish students. From there he also got involved in the PLO. He also started building resentment towards European Jews (Ashkenazi) since he believed they treated Mizrahi Jews poorly.

In May 1984 his political activism was noted with interrogations against him happening the next month. In 1985 Vanunu joined the Israeli communist party. In early 1985, Vanunu lost his job at the Negev plant, due to cutbacks. Luckily his labor union was able to win his job back for him. After he caught one of his Israeli Arabs friends spying on him, he decided to defect. During his return to work he smuggled in a camera and took 57 photos of the facility. October 27, 1985, Vanunu quit working at a nuclear material plant, due to being sent to do lesser tasks.

After his departure he traveled the world. While in Australia he decided to sell his story to journalist, at the Sunday Times. Interestingly enough, Robert Maxwell owned the Sunday Times, and had his company go through with the deal. It took sometimes for Sunday Times to verify him, but when they did, while Maxwell tipped off the Israeli embassy. Vanunu was now being watched by the Mossad. They wanted to bring him back.

While living in Britain a honey pot operation was set up, Cheryl Ben Tov hooking up with him, in an effort to get him to travel to Italy. While in Italy he was captured by and drugged. They threw him in a van and took him to the docks where he was strapped on to a stretcher and loaded on to a speed boat. The speed boat brought them out to an Israeli navy ship the INS Noga, where they transferred the prisoner. He was brought back to Israel, where he was tried and sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Since his release from prison Vanunu has been subjected to constant harassment from Israel. He has tried seeking asylum in other European countries, but Israel refuses to let him leave.

Vanunu case is the most prolific thing to happen, in regard to exposing information about Israel’s nuclear program. For it he was made an example of.

https://web.archive.org/web/20090719130038/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/the-mystery-of-maxwells-death-469294.html

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