Norway invites Israeli nuclear whistleblower who is barred from leaving Israel

The controversial Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu, who was jailed for 18 years for revealing the existence of Israel’s nuclear program, has been invited to go to Norway to be reunited with his new wife. Vanunu was employed at Israel’s top-secret Negev Nuclear Research Center, located in the desert city of Dimona, which was used to develop the country’s nuclear arsenal. But he became a fervent supporter of nuclear disarmament and in 1986 fled to the United Kingdom, where he revealed the existence of the Israeli nuclear weapons program to the London-based newspaper The Times. His action was in direct violation of the non-disclosure agreement he had signed with the government of Israel; moreover, it directly challenged Israel’s official policy of ‘nuclear ambiguity’, which means that the country refuses to confirm or deny that it maintains a nuclear weapons program.

Israel’s spy agency, the Mossad, managed to lure Vanunu to Italy with the help of a female intelligence officer who befriended him. Vanunu was abducted by a Mossad team in Rome and secretly transferred to Israel, where he was tried and convicted to 18 years in prison. He was released in 2004, after having spent most of his sentence in solitary confinement. His release is conditional on a number of restrictions, which means that Vanunu is barred from speaking to foreigners and barred from leaving the country. However, in May 2015, Vanunu married a Norwegian theologian, Kristin Joachimsen. Last Friday, Joachimsen spoke on Norway’s TV2 channel about her marriage with the Israeli nuclear whistleblower. During her interview, she revealed that she had successfully filed a request for family reunification with her husband with the Norwegian government. According to Norwegian law, a family member living abroad is entitled to apply for reunification with a family member who is legally living in Norway. Reporters from TV2 contacted the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration, which confirmed that Joachimsen’s family reunification request had been granted by the government. Consequently, Norway had officially contacted Israel stating its willingness to host Vanunu so that he could be reunited with his wife.

However, there is no guarantee that Vanunu will be permitted to leave Israel. In her interview, the nuclear whistleblower’s wife said that his application was scheduled for review in Israel sometime in November. But she added that she had no idea whether Vanunu would be allowed to leave the Middle Eastern country. On Sunday, a spokesman from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs insisted that the restrictions on Vanunu’s freedom of movement following his release from prison were imposed “due to the danger that he posed” to the security of Israel. In a subsequent written statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Israel would “continue to review updates of the situation in order to determine appropriate restrictions in accordance with security dangers” posed by Vanunu.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 04 October 2017 | Permalink