Content deleted Content added
No edit summary Tags: Reverted Visual edit |
BilledMammal (talk | contribs) Preparing to implement RM consensus: Changed link from ABC News to ABC News (United States) using Move+ |
||
| (18 intermediate revisions by 12 users not shown) | |||
Line 3:
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Mordechai Vanunu 2009.jpg
| alt = Mordechai Vanunu in 2009
| caption = Vanunu in 2009
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|
| birth_place = [[Marrakesh]], [[Morocco]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| awards = [[Right Livelihood Award]]
| nationality = Israeli
| other_names = John Crossman
| known_for = [[List of nuclear whistleblowers|Nuclear whistleblower]]
| spouse = {{marriage|{{ill|Kristin Joachimsen|no}}|19 May 2015}}
}}
'''Mordechai Vanunu''' ({{lang-he|מרדכי ואנונו}}; born 14 October
Vanunu spent 18 years in prison, including more than 11 in solitary confinement, though no such restriction is mentioned in Israel's penal code, nor imposed by his verdict. Released from prison in 2004, he was further subjected to a broad array of restrictions on his speech and his movement, and arrested several times for violations of his parole terms, giving interviews to foreign journalists and attempting to leave Israel. He claims to have suffered from "cruel and barbaric treatment" at the hands of prison authorities, and suggests that these would have been different if he had not converted to Christianity.<ref>{{cite news|title=Israeli nuclear spy released|url=https://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/21/israel.vanunu|work=CNN|date=21 April 2004|access-date=12 February 2009}}</ref>
In 2007, Vanunu was sentenced to six months in prison for violating terms of his parole. The sentence was considered unusually severe even by the prosecution, who expected a [[suspended sentence]]. In May 2010, Vanunu was arrested again and sentenced to three months in jail on a charge that he had met foreigners, in violation of conditions of his 2004 release from jail. In response, [[Amnesty International]] issued a press release in July 2007, stating that "The
Vanunu has been
==Early and educational life==
{{BLP sources section|date=March 2017}}
Vanunu was born in [[Marrakesh]], [[Morocco]], the second of 11 children born to an [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] family that lived in the city's ''[[mellah]]'', or Jewish quarter. His father, Shlomo, ran a grocery store, and his mother, Mazal, was a housewife. Vanunu studied in an [[Alliance française]] school, and a Jewish religious elementary school, or [[cheder]]. In 1963
Vanunu's father purchased a small grocery store in the town's market area, and the family moved into an apartment. Vanunu's father devoted his spare time to religious studies. He came to be regarded as a [[rabbi]], earning respect in the market. Vanunu was sent to a Yeshiva Tichonit, a religious elementary school on the outskirts of town, which mixed religious and conventional studies.<ref name="Hounam, pg. 31-32">Hounam, pg. 31-32</ref>
Line 55:
Vanunu graduated from Ben-Gurion University in 1985 with a BA in philosophy and geography.<ref>{{cite book|last=Fleming|first=Eileen|title=Third Intifada/Uprising: NONVIOLENT But With Words Sharper Than A Two-Edged Sword - Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory|publisher=Outskirts Press|date=5 February 2007|isbn=978-1-4327-0254-0|page=104}}</ref> In early 1985, he lost his job following a mass layoff of workers due to government cutbacks, but his [[trade union|labor union]] won him his job back. After he resumed working at the facility, Vanunu secretly smuggled in a camera and covertly took 57 photographs. He quit his job on 27 October 1985, due to repeated efforts by his superiors to transfer him to tasks that were less sensitive than his previous positions at the facility. He was given severance pay of $7,500 and a reference letter praising his work and describing his departure as a layoff.<ref>Hounam, p. 39</ref><ref>Cochran, Thomas B. [http://docs.nrdc.org/nuclear/files/nuc_10149601a_174.pdf The Relevance of Mordechai Vanunu Disclosures to Israel's National Security] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140927225858/http://docs.nrdc.org/nuclear/files/nuc_10149601a_174.pdf |date=27 September 2014 }}, nrdc.org; accessed 23 February 2017.</ref>
On 15 April 2015,
==Disclosure, abduction and publication==
Line 64:
=== Meeting with journalists ===
During his time in Australia, Vanunu met Oscar Guerrero, a freelance journalist from [[Colombia]]. Guerrero persuaded Vanunu to sell his story, claiming that his story and photographs were worth up to $1 million. After failing to interest ''[[Newsweek]]'', Guerrero approached the British ''[[The Sunday Times (UK)|Sunday Times]]'', and within a few days, Vanunu was interviewed by ''Sunday Times'' journalist [[Peter Hounam]]. According to American journalist Louis Toscano, Guerrero approached the Israeli consulate in August 1986, offering help in tracking down an Israeli "traitor". Guerrero was hoping to be paid. He met with an Israeli intelligence officer named Avi Kliman and told him Vanunu's story. Kliman was initially dismissive but took down Vanunu's name and passport number, which was checked. They met a second time, during which Guerrero handed over four crudely copied photographs.<ref>Hounam, pp. 13-14</ref>
On 7 September 1986, two men who identified themselves as officers from [[Shin Bet]] approached Vanunu's older brother Albert in his carpentry shop in Beersheba and questioned him about his brother. They told him that he was in Australia, that he was talking to a British newspaper about his work at the nuclear research center, urged him to dissuade his brother, and then made him sign a non-disclosure agreement barring him from talking about the meeting.<ref>Hounam, p. 53</ref> On 10 September, Vanunu and Hounam flew to London from Australia. There, in violation of his non-disclosure agreement, Vanunu revealed to the ''Sunday Times'' his knowledge of the Israeli nuclear programme, including the photographs he had secretly taken at the Dimona site. [[File:Frank Barnaby (1982).jpg|thumb|[[Frank Barnaby]] (pictured in 1982) helped verify Vanunu's story, and later testified for him as a defense witness<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />]]
The ''Sunday Times'' was wary of being duped, especially in light of the recent [[Hitler Diaries]] hoax. As a result, the newspaper insisted on verifying Vanunu's story with leading nuclear weapon experts, including former U.S. nuclear weapons designer [[Ted Taylor (physicist)|Theodore Taylor]] and former British [[Atomic Weapons Establishment|AWE]] engineer [[Frank Barnaby]],<ref name="barnaby-opinion">{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/nuke/guide/israel/barnaby.pdf|title=Expert opinion of Frank Charles Barnaby in the matter of Mordechai Vanunu|author=Frank Barnaby|date=14 June 2004|access-date=16 December 2007}}</ref> who agreed that Vanunu's story was factual and correct. In addition, a reporter, Max Prangnell, was sent to Israel to find people who knew Vanunu and could verify his story.<ref>Hounam, p. 12</ref> Prangnell verified Vanunu's backstory, meeting a few people at Ben-Gurion University who identified Vanunu from a photograph, as well as meeting neighbors and others who confirmed he had worked at the Dimona nuclear plant.<ref>Cohen, Yoel, p. 58</ref>
Line 70 ⟶ 74:
Vanunu gave detailed descriptions of [[lithium-6]] separation required for the production of [[tritium]], an essential ingredient of [[Nuclear weapon design#Fusion-boosted fission weapons|fusion-boosted fission]] bombs. While both experts concluded that Israel might be making such single-stage boosted bombs, Vanunu, whose work experience was limited to material (not component) production, gave no specific evidence that Israel was making [[Nuclear weapon design#Two-stage thermonuclear weapons|two-stage thermonuclear]] bombs, such as [[Neutron bomb|neutron]] bombs. Vanunu described the [[plutonium]] processing used, giving a production rate of about 30 kg per year, and stated that Israel used about 4 kg per weapon.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1086956_1,00.html|title=Focus: The secrets that shocked the world|publisher=The Sunday Times|date=25 April 2004|location=London, UK|access-date=13 May 2010|first1=Francis|last1=Elliott|first2=Deborah|last2=Haynes}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://armscontrolwonk.com/Barnaby.pdf|title=The Nuclear Arsenal in the Middle East|author=Frank Barnaby|journal=Journal of Palestine Studies|volume=17|issue=1|date=1987|pages=97–106|access-date=28 December 2006|doi=10.1525/jps.1987.17.1.00p0146h|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061105132638/http://armscontrolwonk.com/Barnaby.pdf|archive-date=5 November 2006}}</ref> From this information it was possible to estimate that Israel had sufficient plutonium for about 150 nuclear weapons.<ref name="barnaby-opinion"/>
During his stay in Britain, the ''Sunday Times'' initially put Vanunu up in a hotel in London close to the newspaper's premises, but shortly afterward, he was moved to what was considered a safer location: a lodge near [[Welwyn]], in rural [[Hertfordshire]], which was in an obscure location and accessed by a narrow road. Hounam considered it an excellent hiding place.
During one foray into London together with a ''Sunday Times'' journalist, Vanunu encountered an Israeli friend, Yoram Bazak, and his girlfriend Dorit on [[Regent Street]]. They agreed to meet later.<ref>Hounam, p. 19</ref> When they met, Bazak intensely questioned Vanunu on his views towards Israel's defense policy, and during the conversation, Vanunu told Bazak about the possibility of him publicly revealing secrets from Dimona to the British press. Bazak responded with a menacing threat.<ref>Hounam, p. 21</ref> Hounam speculated that Vanunu's meeting with Bazak was no mere coincidence and that Bazak had been recruited by Mossad in an attempt to discover Vanunu's motives and try to dissuade him.<ref>Hounam, p. 54</ref> Vanunu later grew bored of rural Hertfordshire and asked for a new location in London, and he was booked in the first hotel he had stayed in under a false name. Hounam speculated that as Oscar Guerrero, who had followed him and Vanunu to London, had already stayed there, Mossad likely had that hotel under surveillance.<ref>Hounam, p. 56</ref> In September, as the story neared publication, the ''Sunday Times'' approached the Israeli embassy with the story, offering it a chance to rebut the allegations. The Israeli press attache, [[Eviatar Manor]], was twice visited by journalists to discuss the story, and on the second visit, was handed some of Vanunu's photographs. The material was rushed to Israel for review. The Israeli response denied the allegations, characterizing Vanunu as a minor technician with limited knowledge of the reactor's operations.<ref>Karsh, Efraim: ''Israel: the First Hundred Years: Volume II: From War to Peace?'', p. 146</ref><ref>Hounam, pp. 60-64</ref>
Line 79 ⟶ 87:
The Israeli government decided to capture Vanunu, but determined to avoid harming its good relationship with [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Margaret Thatcher]], and not wanting to risk confrontation with British intelligence, decided Vanunu should be persuaded to leave British territory under his own volition. Israel's efforts to capture Vanunu were headed by [[Giora Tzahor]].<ref>Ronen, Gil [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/157934#.UF3g5FHa98E Agent Who Nabbed Vanunu Killed in Accident] at [[Arutz Sheva]], 17 July 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2012.</ref>
Through constant surveillance and analysis by Mossad psychologists, the Mossad found that Vanunu had become lonely and eager for female companionship. Masquerading as an American tourist called "Cindy", Israeli Mossad agent [[Cheryl Bentov]] befriended Vanunu, and on 30 September persuaded him to fly to Rome with her on a holiday.<ref name=haretz>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=%20417663&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y |title=Capturing nuclear whistle-blower was 'a lucky stroke,' agents recall|author=Yossi Melman |publisher=Haaretz |date=21 April 2004|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221125605/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=%20417663&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y|archive-date=21 February 2009 }}</ref> This relation has been perceived as a classic [[Clandestine HUMINT asset recruiting#Love, honeypots, and recruitment|honey trap]] operation whereby an intelligence agent employs seduction to gain the target's trust—a practice which has been officially sanctioned in Israel.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Kalman, Matthew|title=Mossad's Seductive 'Honey Trap' Is Kosher, Rabbi Finds|url=http://www.aolnews.com/2010/10/04/mossads-seductive-honey-trap-is-kosher-rabbi-finds|work=[[AOL News]]|date=4 October 2010|access-date=30 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113135152/http://www.aolnews.com/2010/10/04/mossads-seductive-honey-trap-is-kosher-rabbi-finds/|archive-date=13 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|author= Beam, Christopher |title= The Spy Who Said She Loved Me. Are "honey traps" real?|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2277407|work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|date=9 December 2010|access-date=30 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Sex Condoned for Female Mossad Agents|url=http://www.darkgovernment.com/news/sex-condoned-for-female-mossad-agents|work=Darkgovernment.com|agency=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|date=13 October 2010|access-date=30 December 2010}}</ref> Meanwhile, the Israeli Navy ship INS ''Noga'' was ordered to sail for Italy.<ref>Hounam, p. 78</ref>
The ''Noga'', disguised as a merchant ship, was fitted with electronic surveillance equipment and satellite communications gear in its [[superstructure]], and was primarily used to intercept communications traffic in Arab ports. As the ship was heading from [[Antalya]] in Turkey back to Haifa, the captain was instructed by encrypted message to change course for Italy and anchor off the coast of [[La Spezia]], out of the port in international waters.
Once in Rome, Vanunu and Bentov took a taxi to an apartment in the city's old quarter, where three waiting Mossad operatives overpowered Vanunu and injected him with a paralyzing drug. Later that night, a white van hired by the Israeli embassy arrived, and Vanunu was carried to the vehicle bound to a stretcher. The van drove with Vanunu and the agents to [[La Spezia]]'s dock, where they boarded a waiting speedboat, which reached the waiting ''Noga'' anchored off the coast. The crew of the ''Noga'' were all ordered to assemble
On 7 October, the ship anchored off the coast of Israel between Tel Aviv and Haifa, where it was met by a smaller vessel to which Vanunu was transferred. Vanunu was detained in Israel and interrogated.<ref name=haretz /><ref>Hounam, Peter: ''The woman from Mossad: The story of Mordechai Vanunu & the Israeli nuclear program</ref><ref>Thomas, Gordon: ''Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad'' (2002)</ref> He was detained in a [[Gedera]] prison, in a wing run by Shin Bet.<ref>Cohen, p. 110</ref> On 5 October, the ''Sunday Times'' published the information it had revealed, and estimated that Israel had produced more than 100 nuclear warheads.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709033602/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article830147.ece|url-status=dead|title=The Times & The Sunday Times|archive-date=9 July 2009|website=www.thetimes.co.uk}}</ref>
Line 91 ⟶ 99:
==Trial and imprisonment==
{{BLP sources section|date=March 2017}}
On 6 January 1987, he began a [[hunger strike]] over his prison conditions. During a visit with his brother Asher and in a letter to his brother Meir, he complained, among other things, of being held in [[solitary confinement]] 23 hours a day. When Judy Zimmet traveled to Israel and asked to visit him in prison, prison authorities said they could only meet in the presence of prison officials and with them separated by a glass barrier. Vanunu rejected these conditions, demanding that he be allowed to meet her face to face.<ref>{{
On 30 August 1987, Vanunu's trial opened. He was charged with treason, aggravated espionage, and collection of secret information with intent to impair state security. The trial, held in secret, took place in the Jerusalem District Court before Chief Justice Eliyahu Noam and Judges Zvi Tal and Shalom Brenner. Vanunu was initially represented by Amnon Zichroni, then by [[Avigdor Feldman]], a prominent Israeli civil and human rights lawyer. The prosecutor was Uzi Hasson.<ref>{{
The [[Capital punishment in Israel|death penalty in Israel]] is restricted to special circumstances, and only two executions have ever taken place there. In 2004, former Mossad director [[Shabtai Shavit]] told [[Reuters]] that the option of [[extrajudicial execution]] was considered in 1986, but rejected because "Jews don't do that to other Jews."<ref>{{
During his trial, Vanunu was brought to court wearing a motorcycle helmet to conceal his face. On 1 September 1987, while being brought into court, Vanunu tried to take off his helmet and started shouting in an apparent attempt to talk to the reporters nearby. His guards stopped him using physical force, and police sirens were turned on to drown out his voice.<ref>{{
Peter Hounam and Frank Barnaby both testified as defense witnesses for Vanunu. Before appearing in court, Hounam was warned that he would be arrested if he reported on the proceedings or his own testimony. He was allowed to report that he "gave evidence" regarding his "relationship" with Vanunu.<ref name=":0">
Vanunu served his entire 18 years at [[Shikma Prison]] in [[Ashkelon]],<ref name="guardian.co.uk"/> of which he was held 11 years in imposed solitary confinement, not imposed in Israeli criminal law, neither by specific court instructions to "upgrade" his prison term. On 3 May 1989, he appealed his conviction and sentence to the Israeli Supreme Court and was brought there in a closed police vehicle to the Supreme Court for an appeal hearing.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 May 1989 |title=Vanunu Appeal Opens in Israel As Italians Rally Behind Him |url=https://www.jta.org/1989/05/04/archive/vanunu-appeal-opens-in-israel-as-italians-rally-behind-him |website=JTA.org}}</ref> In 1990, his appeal was rejected.<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 May 1990 |title=High Court Rejects Vanunu's Appeal, Will Decide on Publishing Decision |url=https://www.jta.org/1990/05/29/archive/high-court-rejects-vanunus-appeal-will-decide-on-publishing-decision}}</ref> The following year, an appeal to the Supreme Court arguing for better prison conditions was rejected.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 November 1991 |title=Vanunu Loses Bid for Better Conditions |url=https://www.jta.org/1991/11/05/archive/vanunu-loses-bid-for-better-conditions}}</ref> On 12 March 1998, after having spent over eleven years in solitary confinement, Vanunu was released into the general prison population.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 March 1998 |title=Israel ends 12-year solitary |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/65034.stm |work=BBC News |department=WORLD}}</ref>
Many critics argue that Vanunu
==Release, liberties restrictions and asylum applications==
{{multiple issues|section=yes|
{{update-section|date=August 2016}}
{{overly detailed|section|date=February 2024}}
}}
Vanunu was released from prison on 21 April 2004. Surrounded by dozens of journalists and flanked by two of his brothers, he held an impromptu press conference but refused to answer questions in Hebrew because of the suffering he said he sustained at the hands of the State of Israel.
Vanunu said Israel's Mossad spy agency and the [[Shin Bet]] security services tried to rob him of his [[sanity]] by keeping him in solitary confinement. "You didn't succeed to break me, you didn't succeed to make me crazy," he said. Vanunu called for Israel's nuclear disarmament, and for its dismantlement as a Jewish state.
Line 143 ⟶ 154:
On 3 June 2015, Minister [[Vidar Helgesen]] said Norway had asked Israel to abolish the restrictions against Vanunu leaving Israel for humanitarian considerations. [[Centre Party (Norway)|Centre Party]] foreign policy spokesman [[Liv Signe Navarsete|Navarsete]] stated, "I would urge the government to make a difference...it would attract international attention if Norway gave nuclear whistleblower asylum or emergency passport – despite the Israeli sanctions against him."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thearabdailynews.com/2015/06/06/free-vanunu-to-norway-international-intervention-required/|title=Free Vanunu to Norway: International Intervention Required|work=The Arab Daily News|date=6 June 2015|access-date=15 June 2015}}</ref>
In September 2015, Vanunu's eighth Petition to remove the restrictions against him was denied by Israel's High Court.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thearabdailynews.com/2015/08/04/vanunu-mordechais-september-high-court-and-a-kindle-book/|title=Vanunu Mordechai's September: High Court and a KINDLE Book - The Arab Daily News|work=The Arab Daily News|access-date=3 March 2017|archive-date=27 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727065009/http://thearabdailynews.com/2015/08/04/vanunu-mordechais-september-high-court-and-a-kindle-book/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
On 12 August 2015, Vanunu and his wife applied for family reunification via the Norwegian embassy in Tel Aviv. Vanunu's exit to Norway must be accepted by Israel and his entry approved by Norway. Norway had previously said that they could only issue emergency passports to people who are already on Norwegian soil. However, his wife is a professor at the School of Theology in [[Oslo]], and thus fulfills the requirement that one must be able to provide for their spouse.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thearabdailynews.com/2015/08/16/interview-with-eileen-fleming-on-her-new-ebook|title=Interview with Eileen Fleming on her new ebook|work=The Arab Daily News|date=16 August 2015|access-date=3 March 2017}}</ref>
On 2 September 2015, Vanunu granted his first interview to Israeli media in a Channel 2 interview regarding the Mossad operative who trapped him in 1986.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thearabdailynews.com/2015/09/03/nuclear-whistle-blower-mordechai-vanunu-talks-mossad|title=Nuclear Whistle Blower Mordechai Vanunu Talks Mossad|work=The Arab Daily News|date=3 September 2015|access-date=5 September 2015|archive-date=11 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911070704/http://thearabdailynews.com/2015/09/03/nuclear-whistle-blower-mordechai-vanunu-talks-mossad/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
On 23 December 2015, Vanunu wrote: "Freedom of speech and Freedom of movement. 2016 Freedom year" in an update to his 30 October 2015 statement regarding his 8th Supreme Court Appeal. On 30 October Vanunu wrote: "I had a court hearing on 26 October 2015. We appealed all the restrictions. I even spoke to the Judges. They gave to the police 90 days to end their investigation for the last arrest, after that they will decide."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thearabdailynews.com/2015/12/23/mordechai-vanunus-christmas-update-and-thirty-year-wait-for-freedom-from-israel|title=Mordechai Vanunu's Christmas Update and Thirty-year Wait for Freedom from Israel|date=23 December 2015|publisher=thearabdailynews.com|access-date=7 December 2016}}</ref>
Line 162 ⟶ 173:
==Arrests and hearings==
{{overly detailed|section|date=February 2024}}
Yossi Melman, an Israeli journalist, wrote in the Israeli newspaper ''[[Haaretz]]'' "Vanunu's harassment by the Israeli government is unprecedented and represents a distortion of every accepted legal norm."<ref name="haaretz.com"/> Vanunu was denied parole at a hearing in May 1998.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/87850.stm|date=4 May 1998|title=Vanunu denied parole|publisher=BBC|access-date=5 October 2008}}</ref> Five years later, parole was again refused. At this parole hearing, Vanunu's lawyer Avigdor Feldman maintained that his client had no more secrets and should be freed. The prosecution argued that the imminent [[2003 invasion of Iraq|war with Iraq]] would preclude his release.
After the hearing, Feldman said, "The prosecutor said that if Vanunu were released, the Americans would probably leave Iraq and go after Israel and Israel's nuclear weapons - which I found extremely ridiculous." The real force blocking Vanunu's release, who had been known only as "Y", was exposed in 2001 as Yehiyel Horev, the head of [[Mossad]]'s nuclear and military secrets branch.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/correspondent/2841377.stm|date=16 March 2003|title=Israeli nuclear 'power' exposed|publisher=BBC|access-date=5 October 2008|first=Olenka|last=Frenkiel}}</ref>
Line 236 ⟶ 248:
On 6 June that year, the High Court of Justice denied Vanunu's petition to renounce his Israeli citizenship. Vanunu said, "I want them to revoke my citizenship so that I can begin my life."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4239151,00.html|title=Court denies nuke spy Vanunu's petition to renounce cititzenship|work=ynetnews.com|date=6 June 2012|access-date=7 June 2012}}</ref>
Vanunu was arrested on 23 April 2015, but it was not reported until six days later, when his attorney Michael Sfard posted on his Facebook page, "Vanunu was in a bookstore near the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem where he met two tourists and to the amazement of the store's customers, it was raided by seven border police...after hours of interrogation, Vanunu was released." Vanunu was arrested on suspicions he had violated the restriction against his speaking with foreigners for more than 30 minutes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thearabdailynews.com/2015/04/29/comic-relief-in-the-saga-of-mordechai-vanunu|title=Comic Relief in the Saga of Mordechai Vanunu|work=The Arab Daily News|access-date=15 June 2015|archive-date=19 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150719132808/http://thearabdailynews.com/2015/04/29/comic-relief-in-the-saga-of-mordechai-vanunu/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
On 25 September 2015, Vanunu reported "Sep. 10- Nine policemen come to my home with a search warrant and arrest warrant, they took all my digitale [sic] stuff, computers, [[iPhone]], memory stick, hard drive, camera, CDs, everything, with all the passwords to all my internet activity. They are still holding all these thing. Sep. 25- I am back on the Internet, after one-week house arrest, and 2 weeks no Internet, all this for giving a TV interview in Hebrew, more than a decade after completing an 18-year jail term."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thearabdailynews.com/2015/09/28/mordechai-vanunu-reports-and-the-thomas-merton-connection|title=Mordechai Vanunu Reports and the Thomas Merton Connection|work=The Arab Daily News|date=28 September 2015}}</ref>
Line 272 ⟶ 284:
In September 2004, Vanunu received the [[LennonOno Grant for Peace]], a peace prize founded by artist and musician [[Yoko Ono]] in memory of [[John Lennon]], her late husband.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}
In December 2004, he was elected by the students of the [[University of Glasgow]] to serve for three years as [[Rector of the University of Glasgow|Rector]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4100119.stm|title=Vanunu elected university rector|date=16 December 2004|publisher=BBC}}</ref> On 22 April 2005, he was formally installed in the post but could not carry out any of its functions as he was still confined to Israel. ''[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]]'' newspaper launched a campaign for his release.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH1072&type=P|title=Biography of Mordechai Vanunu|website=Universitystory.gla.ac.uk|date=26 February 2013|access-date=4 March 2017|archive-date=4 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304192950/http://www.universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH1072&type=P|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 2005 he received the Peace Prize of the Norwegian People (''Folkets fredspris'').<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peacepeople.com/2005/norwegian.html|title=Norwegian Peace Prize for Mordechai Vanunu|date=5 April 2005|publisher=The Peace People|access-date=26 February 2011|quote=Mordechai Vanunu has been awarded the Norwegian People's Peace Prize for 2005 for his treacherous action of betraying the people in Israel.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927055720/http://www.peacepeople.com/2005/norwegian.html|archive-date=27 September 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Previous recipients of this prize include [[Vytautas Landsbergis]] (1991), [[Alva Myrdal]] (1982), [[Mairead Maguire]] and [[Betty Williams (Nobel laureate)|Betty Williams]]. On 24 February 2010, Nobel Institute Director, Geir Lundestad, announced that for the second year in a row, Mordechai Vanunu had declined the honour of being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}
| |||