israel Is Concerned About Whistleblower

JERUSALEM -- Israel is concerned that a whistleblower who spilled Israeli nuclear secrets to a newspaper two decades ago might have more to say after his imminent release from prison, and is looking for ways to silence him, officials said Tuesday.

Mordechai Vanunu, a former nuclear technician, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for espionage after giving dozens of pictures and a description of alleged weapons from Israel's top-secret Dimona nuclear reactor to London's Sunday Times in 1986. He is due to be released in April.

Israel's official policy about nuclear weapons is purposely ambiguous: Officials say only that Israel will not be the first to introduce them into the Middle East.

But based on Vanunu's pictures, experts concluded Israel had the world's sixth-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons. The CIA estimated more recently that Israel has between 200 and 400 nuclear weapons.

Since his arrest, Vanunu has become the poster figure for critics of Israel's nuclear program.

He was nominated for the 2003 Nobel peace prize and an American couple adopted him in the mistaken belief that this would entitle him to U.S. citizenship and hasten his release.

A Channel Two TV report said officials, concerned about what else Vanunu has to say, are considering options that include barring him from traveling overseas or speaking in public after he is released.

While the Shin Bet security service and Israel's Justice Ministry had no comment, Israeli security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the report was true but would not elaborate.

Vanunu's lawyer did not return calls seeking comment.

Yossi Katz, then a member of the Israeli parliament, visited Vanunu in prison in 2000. He said Vanunu indicated he had more to say, but then contradicted himself.

Speaking after the visit, Katz said Vanunu appeared to mix fact with fantasy. Katz said his impression is that Vanunu is "not a (mentally) healthy man."

Born into an observant Jewish family, Vanunu converted to Christianity during a stay in Australia and became a pacifist. Vanunu has indicated that he wants to leave Israel after his release.

Israel, however, does not view Vanunu as the idealist he claims to be, but as "a disturbed, vengeful person," said Hebrew University professor Shlomo Aronson, an expert on Israel's nuclear policies.

"If this is the case," says Aronson, "I would not be surprised if Israel does all it can according to the law to prevent him from bringing further damage to Israel."

However, it is not clear if the Israeli government could legally bar Vanunu from leaving the country after he completes his sentence, says Moshe Gorali, a legal analyst for the Haaretz daily.

Israel would have to prove he still constitutes a real danger, Gorali said.

A few months after the story in the Sunday Times, Vanunu was lured into a trap by a female agent from Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and spirited from Europe back to Israel, where he was tried and jailed.

Since his incarceration, Israel has treated Vanunu harshly, forcing him to spend long periods in solitary confinement and denying his repeated parole requests.