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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 having suffered "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]].
Vanunu has been characterised internationally as a [[whistleblower]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/programmes/correspondent/transcripts/17_03_2003.txt|title=Correspondent: Israel's Secret Weapon (transcript)|date=17 March 2003|publisher=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/capturing-nuclear-whistle-blower-was-a-lucky-stroke-agents-recall-1.120228|title=Capturing nuclear whistle-blower was 'a lucky stroke', agents recall|work=[[Ha'aretz]]|date=12 November 2006}}</ref> and by Israel as a traitor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0404/stephens_vanunu.php3|title=The meaning of Vanunu|work=Jewish World Review|date=26 April 2004|access-date=12 November 2006|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224155548/http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0404/stephens_vanunu.php3|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/21/1082530235940.html?from=storyrhs|title=Vanunu: traitor or prisoner of conscience?|work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=22 April 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/22200/edition_id/448/format/html/displaystory.html|title=Vanunu: Hero or traitor?|work=JWeekly|location=San Francisco|date=23 April 2004|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121208161538/http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/22425/vanunu-hero-or-traitor/|archive-date=8 December 2012}}</ref><ref name="Ellsberg">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3758693.stm|title=Vanunu 'wanted to avert holocaust'|publisher=BBC|date=29 May 2004}}</ref> [[Daniel Ellsberg]] has referred to him as "the preeminent hero of the nuclear era".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-apr-21-oe-ellsberg21-story.html|date=21 April 2004 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |title=Nuclear Hero's 'Crime' Was Making Us Safer |first=Daniel |last=Ellsberg|access-date=22 April 2020}}</ref> In 1987, he was awarded the [[Right Livelihood Award]] for "his courage and self-sacrifice in revealing the extent of Israel's nuclear weapons program".
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=== Political views and activities ===
His political views had begun to change and he became critical of many policies of the Israeli government. He opposed the [[1982 Lebanon War]], and when he was called up to serve in that war as a reserve soldier in the Engineering Corps, he refused to perform field tasks and instead did kitchen duty. He
In his security file at the Negev Nuclear Research Center, it was noted that he had displayed "left-wing and pro-Arab beliefs".<ref name="Gideon's Spies"/> In May 1984, he was questioned by the head of security at Dimona and a lawyer who was possibly from [[Shin Bet]], and was let off with a stern warning about divulging any
In June 1984, he was again interrogated at the facility's security office. The next month, he left for France for two weeks with a student group to meet [[History of the Jews in France|French-Jewish]] students in [[Paris]] and when he returned, he was interrogated again. In 1985, Vanunu reportedly joined the [[Maki (political party)|Israeli Communist Party]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://people.com/archive/a-man-of-mystery-sells-a-chilling-story-and-then-vanishes-vol-26-no-20|title=A Man of Mystery Sells a Chilling Story and Then Vanishes|last=Gross|first=Ben|volume=26|issue=20|publisher=[[People (magazine)|People]]|date=17 November 1986|access-date=6 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://972mag.com/saying-goodbye-to-the-soviet-spy-who-was-an-israeli-patriot/114498|title=A Soviet spy and an Israeli patriot|last=Matar|first=Haggai|magazine=[[+972 Magazine]]|date=3 December 2015|access-date=6 February 2017}}</ref> Vanunu later claimed that he had developed a very close friendship with an Israeli Arab, and after a year, discovered that his friend was being paid to spy on him.<ref>Hounam, p. 47</ref>
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==Disclosure, abduction and publication==
{{BLP sources section|date=December 2017}}
After leaving his job, Vanunu started attending [[Israeli Communist Party]] meetings, but was unimpressed with the level of discussion and soon stopped going. He
During his time in Nepal, Vanunu visited the Soviet embassy in [[Kathmandu]] to inquire about the travel documents he would need for a future trip to the [[Soviet Union]]. He then returned to Thailand, and from there went to Australia on a flight to [[Sydney]]. Vanunu decided to settle permanently in Sydney, and after ten days of sightseeing, he found a job as a dishwasher at the Menzies Hotel, and then at a Greek restaurant. Meanwhile, he studied for and eventually gained a taxi license. He
=== Meeting with journalists ===
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On 28 March 1988, Vanunu was convicted. He was sentenced to eighteen years of imprisonment from the date of his abduction in Rome.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-11-25-9911250182-story.html|title=PAPER PRINTS EXCERPTS FROM TRIAL OF ISRAELI SPY|first=Tribune News|last=Services|website=chicagotribune.com|date=25 November 1999 }}</ref> The Israeli government refused to release the transcript of the court case until, under a threat of legal action, it agreed to let censored extracts be published in ''[[Yedioth Ahronoth]]'', an Israeli newspaper, in late 1999.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}
Vanunu served his sentence at [[Shikma Prison]] in [[Ashkelon]],<ref name="guardian.co.uk"/> where he was held in administratively imposed solitary confinement. On 3 May 1989, he appealed his conviction and sentence to the Israeli Supreme Court and was brought from prison in a closed police vehicle to the Supreme Court for an appeal hearing.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1989/05/04/archive/vanunu-appeal-opens-in-israel-as-italians-rally-behind-him|title=Vanunu Appeal Opens in Israel As Italians Rally Behind Him|publisher=JTA.org|date=4 May 1989}}</ref> In 1990, his appeal was rejected.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1990/05/29/archive/high-court-rejects-vanunus-appeal-will-decide-on-publishing-decision|title=High Court Rejects Vanunu's Appeal, Will Decide on Publishing Decision|date=29 May 1990}}</ref> The following year, an appeal to the Supreme Court arguing for better prison conditions was
Many critics argue that Vanunu had no additional information that would pose a real security threat to Israel and that the government's only motivation is to avoid political embarrassment and financial complications for itself and allies such as the United States. By not acknowledging possession of nuclear weapons, Israel avoids a US legal prohibition on funding countries that proliferate [[weapons of mass destruction]]. Such an admission would prevent Israel from receiving over $2 billion each year in military and other aid from [[Federal government of the United States|Washington]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/frontpage/story/0,,1970963,00.html|title=Calls for Olmert to resign after nuclear gaffe|date=13 December 2006|work=The Guardian|location=London, UK|first=Luke|last=Harding|access-date=13 May 2010}}</ref> [[Ray Kidder]], then a senior American nuclear scientist at [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]], has said:{{blockquote|On the basis of this research and my own professional experience, I am ready to challenge any official assertion that Mr. Vanunu possesses any technical nuclear information not already made public.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nonviolence.org/vanunu/archive2/jan26.html|title=U.S. Expert: It's Safe to Release Vanunu|publisher=Nonviolence.org (from [[Ha'aretz]])|date=26 January 2000}}</ref>}}
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{{update-section|date=August 2016}}
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
Around 200 supporters and a smaller number of counter-demonstrators attended the conference.<ref name="guardian.co.uk"/> He indicated a desire to completely dissociate himself from Israel, initially refusing to speak in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], and planning to move to Europe or the United States<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.serve.com/vanunu/20060113jakarta.html|title=Discussion with a Friend from JAKARTA (letter from Vanunu)|publisher=The Mordechai Vanunu Website|date=13 January 2006|access-date=12 April 2006|archive-date=26 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226114359/https://www.serve.com/vanunu/20060113jakarta.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> as soon as the Israeli government would permit him to do so.
Shortly before his scheduled release, Vanunu remained defiant under interrogation by Shin Bet. In recordings of the interview made public after his release, he is heard saying "I am neither a traitor nor a spy, I only wanted the world to know what was happening." He also said, "We don't need a [[Jewish state]]. There needs to be a Palestinian state. Jews can, and have lived anywhere, so a Jewish State is not necessary."<ref name=Vanunu_defiant>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3640989.stm|title=Vanunu defiant ahead of release|publisher=BBC|date=19 April 2004|access-date=3 October 2007}}</ref> "Vanunu is a difficult and complex person. He remains stubbornly, admirably uncompromisingly true to his principles, and is willing to pay the price," said ''Ha'aretz'' newspaper in 2008.<ref name="haaretz.com">Yossi Melman [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/975302.html Haaretz] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090915234452/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/975302.html |date=15 September 2009 }} "It is time to free Vanunu", haaretz.com, 16 April 2008.</ref>
Following his release, Vanunu moved to an apartment in [[Jaffa]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-2905585,00.html|script-title=he:המרגל מרדכי ואנונו: "אני גאה ומאושר, אין יותר סודות"|publisher=www.ynet.co.il|trans-title=The spy Mordechai Vanunu: "I am proud and happy, there are no more secrets"|author=Hanan Greenberg|author2=Shmulik Hadad|newspaper=Ynet |date=21 April 2004|language=he}}</ref> After the address was published in the media, he decided to live in [[St. George's Cathedral, Jerusalem|St. George's Cathedral]] in [[Jerusalem]]. He regularly receives visitors and
A number of prohibitions were placed upon Vanunu after his release from jail and are still in force:
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While the Norwegian foreigner directorate (State Department) (UDI) had been prepared to grant Vanunu asylum, it was suddenly decided that the application could not be accepted because Vanunu had applied for it from outside of the borders of Norway. An unclassified document revealed that Solberg and the government considered that extracting Vanunu from Israel might be seen as an action against Israel and thereby unfitting the Norwegian government's traditional role as a friend of Israel and as a political player in the Middle East. Since the information has been revealed, Solberg has rejected criticism and defended her decision.<ref name="vg.no">{{cite web|url=http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/norsk-politikk/artikkel.php?artid=531398|title=Erna Solberg hindret Vanunu i å få asyl - VG Nett|publisher=Vg.no|access-date=20 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090630013226/http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/norsk-politikk/artikkel.php?artid=531398 |archive-date=30 June 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/midtosten/artikkel.php?artid=531446|title=Vanunu: - Håper Norge angrer asyl-avslaget - VG Nett|publisher=Vg.no|access-date=20 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090630013226/http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/midtosten/artikkel.php?artid=531446|archive-date=30 June 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/midtosten/artikkel.php?artid=531497|title=Vanunu-venner i harnisk - VG Nett|publisher=Vg.no|access-date=20 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090630013226/http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/midtosten/artikkel.php?artid=531497|archive-date=30 June 2009}}</ref>
Vanunu's application for asylum in Sweden was
In 2006, [[Amnesty International]]'s British branch chief, [[Kate Allen (Amnesty International)|Kate Allen]], wrote that [[Microsoft]] handed over the details of Vanunu's [[Hotmail]] email account on the demand of Israeli authorities while that country investigated whether he was communicating with foreign journalists. The hand-over happened before a court order had been obtained.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/amnesty/story/0,,1784718,00.html|title=Today, our chance to fight a new hi-tech tyranny|date=28 May 2006|publisher=The Observer|location=London, UK|first=Kate|last=Allen|access-date=13 May 2010}}</ref>
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==Arrests and hearings==
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.
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>
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On 11 May 2010, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Vanunu would "serve a three-month jail sentence handed to him by Jerusalem District Court and not community service" which would begin 23 May 2010.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}
Vanunu had been sentenced to community service but stated his refusal to perform community service in west Jerusalem, claiming that he would be in danger of being assaulted by a member of the Israeli public
Eleven days earlier, [[Amnesty International]] had released a press release following the announcement of this sentence: "If Mordechai Vanunu is imprisoned again, Amnesty International will declare him to be a prisoner of conscience and call for his immediate and unconditional release."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/israeli-government-urged-not-jail-nuclear-whistleblower-again-2010-05-12|title=Israeli government urged not to jail nuclear whistleblower again|publisher=Amnesty International|date=12 May 2010}}</ref>
On 24 May 2010, Vanunu began serving his three-month prison sentence.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/10145852.stm Israeli nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu jailed], BBC World News, 24 May 2010.</ref> On 18 June, it was reported that Vanunu had been placed in solitary confinement.<ref name=AImay2010>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/israeli-nuclear-whistleblower-returned-solitary-confinement-2010-06-18|title=Israeli nuclear whistleblower returned to solitary confinement|publisher=Amnesty.org|date=17 June 2010|access-date=20 November 2010}}</ref> Vanunu was released from prison on 8 August.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vanunu.com|title=Vanunu Mordechai J.C. - I Am Your Spy|publisher=Vanunu.com|access-date=20 November 2010}}</ref>
On 14 July 2011, Vanunu appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court to instruct Interior Minister [[Eli Yishai]] to revoke his Israeli citizenship, claiming that "the Israeli street" and media were treating him belligerently, and that he could "no longer find his place in Israeli society", and that despite his release from prison, "the State of Israel continues to
Vanunu's appeal noted an amendment to the Citizenship Act which allowed the Interior Minister to revoke his citizenship even if he did not hold another one, and claimed that revocation of his Israeli citizenship would allow him to seek citizenship or permanent residency in a European country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/Int/App/HPage/SorryPage/0,6173,L-,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204222858/https://www.ynetnews.com/Int/App/HPage/SorryPage/0,6173,L-,00.html|url-status=dead|title=Sorry Back to main page|date=25 October 2012|archive-date=4 December 2017|publisher=ynetnews.com}}</ref>
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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}}
On 21 September 2010, the Teach Peace Foundation
On 4 October 2010, the [[International League for Human Rights]] announced that Vanunu was awarded the [[Carl von Ossietzky Medal]] for 2010<ref>{{cite web|author=Eileen Fleming |url=http://www.arabisto.com/article/Blogs/Eileen_Fleming/Mordechai_Vanunus_Press_Release/84207|title=Mordechai Vanunu and the 2010 Carl-von-Ossietzky-Medal|publisher=Arabisto|access-date=20 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707155316/http://www.arabisto.com/article/Blogs/Eileen_Fleming/Mordechai_Vanunus_Press_Release/84207|archive-date=7 July 2011}}</ref> and, on 16 November, sent [[open letter]]s to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister [[Ehud Barak]] and Interior Minister Eli Yishai, seeking Vanunu's free departure out of Israel to allow him to receive the medal at the Award Ceremony in Berlin on 12 December 2010.<ref>Melman, Yossi [http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/nobel-laureates-urge-israel-to-let-vanunu-receive-int-l-rights-award-1.325707 Nobel laureates urge Israel to let Vanunu receive int'l rights award] at Haaretz, 20 November 2010.</ref> Nobel laureates cited as co-signatories to the letter include [[Mairead Maguire]], [[Günter Grass]], [[Harold W. Kroto]] and [[Jack Steinberger]].
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