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Mordechai Vanunu was convicted of espionage and treason in 1986, and served 18 years in prison in Israel. A former Israeli nuclear reactor technician, Vanunu worked at the Dimona plant, Israel's nuclear installation, from 1976 to 1985. In 1986, he provided the London Sunday Times with the facts and photos they used to tell the world about Israel's nuclear weapons program. Lured to Rome by an Israeli Mossad agent, he was kidnapped, drugged and returned to Israel to stand trial. After his conviction, Vanunu was held in complete isolation for 11 years, with only occasional visits from his family, lawyer and a priest, allowed.
Born in 1954 to a religious Jewish family in Morocco, he immigrated to Israel at the age of nine, performed his military service in the mid-Seventies and began work at Dimona in November, 1976, while completing a graduate course in philosophy and geography. He converted to Christianity before his arrest in 1986.
When he was taken into custody, unable to speak to journalists, he wrote out his flight details on the palm of his hand and pressed it to the window of his prison truck as it took him to court: "Rome ITL 30:9:86 2100 came to Rome by BA504."
Vanunu was released on April 21, 2004. The Israeli defense establishment declared Vanunu to be a security risk, and officials signed orders forbidding him to leave the country for a year and requiring him to obtain official clearance before speaking to foreign nationals or traveling far from his place of residence.
Last updated: June 22, 2004.
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