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Journal t_allardyce's Journal: Mordechai Vanunu 10

Journal by t_allardyce

Mordechai Vanunu is a traitor to the Israeli government, and probably a traitor to Israel itself. But to the rest of the world hes a hero. Now if he had revealed his secrets inside Israel it would be an internal affair, but he didnt, he left the country and was then taken back against his will. Now I dont know if the Italian government agreed to it - i.e extradited him, maybe they did? but if they didnt its most certainly kidnap. This man then spent the next 18 years in prision, most of that time in solitary confinement. Now hes out but not allowed to talk to the press or leave Israel.

That alone is warrent enough for some serious bitch slapping to the Israeli government, but lets take a look at their other affairs shall we?

The United States, Russia, The United Kingdom, France, China, India and Pakistan. They all have one thing in common, they officially admit to having nuclear weapons. This basically means they can have grown-up discussions about their weapons and sign treaties promising not to test or strike first etc. So these countries can say "Hey, I have nukes, you have nukes, lets chill out ok?". In politics this is called a declared nuclear state. The opposite of this is a country that says "Er no we dont have nuclear weapons, that thing? oh thats a textile factory!" Does this sound like a responsible country to you? Is this not one of the main reasons cited for the invasion of Iraq and maybe even Iran? Well this is a pretty good description of Israel, infact afew decades ago, that big dome shaped building in Dimona was officially known as.. a textile factory!

Ok so they came out and admitted that they had lied, the Dimona plant wasn't making clothes, it was a nuclear reactor, but only a peacful one!

Now im not qualified to say Vanunu is telling the truth or not, i have no idea. Fact is, he has photographic evidence which was published in the Sunday Times in 1986 to say that this plant produces nuclear weapons. In the 60's, after the revalation of the plants existance the US government was allowed an inspection. Guess what they concluded?

We remain concerned that Israel may have succeeded in concealing a decision to develop nuclear weapons. [The team findings must be weighed against the following facts (see link)] - Source: The Jewish Virtual Library

Vanunu claims that during this inspection the lower ground parts of the complex were hidden, and lifts and stairwells were bricked over! I have no idea if this is true or not, and if anyone has evidence for or against then please comment.

Also, i think its a common misconception that the secrets he revealed were dangerous and could have allowed terrorist access to nuclear weapons, im pretty sure they were not dangerous.

Anyone want to comment? please give links if you can. This is pretty much a separate issue from the debate on Israel's legitimacy as a state, thats off-topic for this journal.

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Mordechai Vanunu More

Mordechai Vanunu

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  • I'm not as well informed on this issue as I should be, but didn't the US government give Israel nukes for "self defense" a while ago? I believe that is probably the number one factor that keeps all of the other arab nations from combining their forces and wiping Israel off the face of the planet; the fact that Israel is the only nation in the region (other than Pakistan, perhaps) that has nukes.

    Am I incorrect? Even if the Israeli government doesn't admit to having nuclear weapons, haven't they pretty muc
    • Well neither side have admitted to America giving nukes to Israel, this is the first i've heard of it? However America did give Israel some patriot missiles which AFAIK are a defensive anti-missile system.

      Heres [mfa.gov.il] an interview transcript from the israeli governments website, between Sam Donaldson and Benjamin Netanyahu on ABC, the official policy is: "Israel will not introduce nuclear weapons [into the middle-east], and you can make of that what you want."

      As for defense against neighbours, Israel certainly
      • Thanks for the link to the interview. Notice the doublespeak? He doesn't even give a straight answer:

        MR. DONALDSON: We're out of time, Prime Minister, but just for the record, does Israel possess nuclear weapons?

        MR. NETANYAHU: Well, Israel will not introduce nuclear weapons, and you can make of that what you want.

        Why didn't he just come out and say "No, Israel does not possess nuclear weapons." ? He makes it sound like "we already know that somebody else introduced them (Iran?) so we've got them too
        • I dont know where to start? apart from contaminating the land and risking Israeli lives, they would get the undivided attention of practically ever person on the planet in a matter of minutes, quickly the world would take sides and it wouldnt be the side Israel was on, the US would be forced into a snap decision: wipe out the rest of the world, or side with them. I think even Bush would choose the side with them option?

  • He was kidnapped. (Score:2, Informative)

    by bcmm ( 768152 )
    Vanunu, who had fled to the UK, was tricked into travelling to Italy. From there he was kidnapped and taken to Israel. Neither the UK nor Italy agreed to extradition.

    link

  • Thanks for digging up the info you've posted here and in your replies to other posters. I think it's unduly harsh to prevent him from leaving Israel, or even speaking to the media.

    Everyone knows Israel has nukes, and it doesn't seem like that hurts them, at least not now, in the long run. I don't know what further harm they think Vanunu could do. Obviously he's a traitor in some sense, since he broke their laws against disclosing secrets, and that law says they can call him a traitor. I _don't_ think

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