Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Israeli Nuclear Whistleblower Indicted Over TV Interview

JERUSALEM — Mordechai Vanunu, who served 18 years in prison for disclosing Israeli nuclear secrets, was indicted for violating the terms of his parole over an interview he gave to an Israeli television station.

The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court handed down the indictment on Sunday for the September interview on Channel 2, the station [reported](http://www.mako.co.il/news-law/legal-q2_2016/Article-a6efbdaf9319451004.htm?sCh=31750a2610f26110&pId=2100566639%20   “”).

All the material broadcast in the interview had been approved by Israel’s military censor, Channel 2 said, but in the unedited tapes Vanunu reportedly discussed topics prohibited by his parole.

The indictment also stated that Vanunu violated his parole by moving to a different apartment in the same building without notifying police and by meeting with two visiting American citizens at a hotel in eastern Jerusalem.

Vanunu, 60, who was released from prison in 2004, was jailed in Israel for discussing details of his work as a technician at the Dimona nuclear facility with the Sunday Times of London. He reportedly revealed Israeli nuclear secrets and gave the newspaper photographs of the plant’s operations.

Under the terms of his parole, Vanunu is prohibited from leaving Israel, visiting the West Bank or approaching foreign embassies and speaking with foreign nationals.

Israel’s Supreme Court has denied  several appeals from Vanunu to leave the country.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.