Source: PressTV
Former head of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission says the Israeli nuclear whistleblower has served the regime because his revelations helped Tel Aviv intimidate others.
Yet Uzi Eilam, a retired army brigadier-general who ran the commission between 1976 and 1986, says the whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu did a service by alerting foes to the country's military might.
Vanunu was sentenced to 18 years as a traitor in a secret trial in 1986. He was abducted at that time from Italy after revealing information about an illegal nuclear program at Israel's Dimona reactor to Britain's Sunday Times newspaper.
Vanunu's information proved that Israel had broken the 1968 treaty on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
There is a US law that prohibits the support of countries that break the treaty in question.
Eilam said Vanunu's interview with the British paper, which led foreign experts to conclude that Israel had produced fissile material for as many as 200 atomic warheads, had helped Israel's strategic standing by unveiling its military might.
He was released in 2004, but confined to Israel since then even though he was merely a technical assistant with limited and outdated information. Israeli military officials; however, worry that he may reveal more secrets about Israel's nuclear weapons.
To date, he is still not permitted to speak to non-Israeli's.
"I've always believed he should be let go," Eilam, told Reuters on Sunday.
"I don't think he has significant knowledge to reveal (about Dimona) now," he added.
"It served to bolster our deterrence," he concluded.
Vanunu has been nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize including this years' award. He has reportedly asked that his name be removed from the list that holds the name of Shimon Peres as the man, according to Vanunu, is behind Israeli atomic policy.
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On January 25, 2006, after nearly two years of speaking to hundreds of foreigners since his release from prison, Vanunu was convicted by the Jerusalem Magistrates Court of 15 violations of a military order that had prohibited him from talking to non-Israelis and because he attempted to "leave the state" by taking a cab from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to attend Christmas Eve mass at the Church of the Nativity in 2004.
ReplyDeleteThe original indictment included 22 different violations; Vanunu was charged with 19 and acquitted of four. He was acquitted of speaking to foreign nationals on the internet and via video and voice chats.
Just prior to the taping of "30 Minutes with Vanunu" [freely streaming @ VANUNU ARCHIVES http://wearewideawake.org/ ] on March 26, 2006, Vanunu told me:
"Many journalists come here to the American Colony, from CNN and NY Times. They all want to cover my story, but their EDITORS say no...CNN wants to interview me; but they say they can't do it because they don't want problems with the Israeli censor. BBC is doing the same thing. Sixty Minutes from the United States from the beginning they wanted to do a program, but because of the censor situation they decide not to do it."
On July 2, 2007, Israel sentenced Vanunu to six more months in jail for speaking to foreign media in 2004. On September 23, 2008, the Jerusalem District Court reduced Vanunu’s sentence to three months, "In light of (Vanunu’s) ailing health and the absence of claims that his actions put the country’s security in jeopardy."
On June 14, 2009, Vanunu told me, “The Central Commander of the General Army testified in court that it is OK if I speak in public as long as I do not talk about nuclear weapons.”
On July 6, 2009, the Supreme Court stated, "pending a review of his conduct, Vanunu will be able to ask for the restrictions to be lifted and be allowed to travel abroad…The state's representative noted that six months may be too short a time period to determine a change in Vanunu's behavior and that the state will reconsider the restrictions based not only on Vanunu's behavior but a host of other considerations, including the time that had lapsed since he divulged state secrets to the British paper."
On December 14, 2009 Vanunu returned to the Israeli Supreme Court. I phoned him that day and he told me he expects their decision regarding the 3 month sentence "in a few weeks" and he remains confident he will be freed as "they have no case against me."
Lots more and 2005, 2006, 2008 video interviews with Vanunu @
VANUNU ARCHIVES:
WeAreWideAwake.org