Repeat Watch

He exposed Israel's nuclear weapons. Israel kidnapped him and locked him in solitary confinement for 11 years. On December 21, 1986, a prisoner pressed his hand against the window of an Israeli police van. Written across his palm were the words: "Vanunu M. was hijacked in Rome." His name was Mordechai Vanunu. And this was his extraordinary attempt to tell the world what had happened to him. For almost ten years, Vanunu had worked at Israel's secretive nuclear facility near Dimona, processing materials used to manufacture nuclear weapons. Israel had never publicly admitted possessing nuclear weapons. Vanunu decided the world had a right to know. Before leaving his job in 1985, he secretly photographed restricted areas of the facility. In September 1986, he provided his evidence to Britain's Sunday Times. Nuclear experts examining the material concluded that Israel possessed a sophisticated nuclear weapons programme. Contemporary estimates suggested an arsenal of 100 to 200 warheads. But before the newspaper could publish its investigation, Vanunu disappeared. A woman calling herself Cindy had befriended him in London and persuaded him to accompany her to Rome. She was working for Mossad. On September 30, 1986, Israeli agents abducted Vanunu in Italy, drugged him and secretly transported him to Israel. The Sunday Times published its revelations on October 5. Vanunu was already in Israeli custody. When he eventually managed to communicate his kidnapping through the police van window, the authorities responded by painting the windows white before his next court appearance. In 1988, following a secret trial, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for espionage and treason. He spent approximately 11 of those years in solitary confinement. Eleven years. Amnesty International condemned his prolonged isolation as cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. On April 21, 2004, Vanunu finally walked out of prison. But Israel immediately imposed restrictions on his movements, foreign travel and contact with foreigners. He had served his entire sentence. Yet the punishment continued. Israeli authorities argued that he might still reveal classified information. Vanunu maintained that he had already disclosed everything he knew. Four decades after his abduction, he was still being prevented from leaving Israel. Consider the extraordinary contradiction. Israel refuses to officially acknowledge its nuclear arsenal, even as the international community widely accepts its existence. The man who helped establish that reality has spent much of his life imprisoned or deprived of basic freedoms. Mordechai Vanunu exposed nuclear weapons. He also exposed how far a government was prepared to go to protect its secrets. Note that Israel has developed the Samson option. Remember Samson? He tore down the temple killing himself, but also everyone else. Well, if things ever go a little too much against little Israel, it has promised to nuke the entire world. Cause Israel could be overrun, but its nuclear subs would still be around. Don't give us too much trouble or we nuke the entire world. Blackmail doesn't come in a bigger shape than that. Mushroom clouds everywhere.