Israeli court keeps security restrictions on Vanunu
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The Supreme Court of Israel on Monday upheld restrictions imposed by security officials on nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu.
Vanunu was released from prison in April after serving nearly 18 years for treason and espionage for leaking details of Israel's nuclear program in 1986, court officials said.
The restrictions prevent him from leaving the country and forbid him from talking to the international media. Israeli officials fear Vanunu might reveal additional Israeli secrets.
Israelis view Vanunu as either a traitor or a hero after he exposed Israel's nuclear secrets to London's The Sunday Times 18 years ago, leading analysts to conclude Israel had made as many as 200 nuclear bombs.
Israel does not comment on whether it has nuclear weapons.
A convert to Christianity, Vanunu said shortly after his release he wants to go to the United States to "marry a wife" and study history. However, that may be prevented because of restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities.
At the time, Israeli Justice Minister Joseph Lapid described the restrictions as "very, very mild and moderate and limited."
"He promises to do as much damage and harm to Israel as he can," Lapid said. "He in this sense is a very, very unusual case where somebody spied on his country and betrayed his country and continues to do so and promises to do every harm that he can do to his country."
However, Amnesty International has demanded that Israel allow Vanunu to leave the country if he wishes.
"His release is long overdue and Israel must not continue to violate his fundamental human rights once he is released from prison," according to a statement on Amnesty International's Web site.
In an interview with the security services in March, Vanunu denied the charge of treason:
"I think I did a good thing ... for myself also because I acted honestly with myself and with the world."
Vanunu became a technician at Israel's Dimona Nuclear Reactor Center in 1976, and he signed a pledge to honor the Official Secrets Act.
He then secretly took photos inside the plant. At the same time, he was studying philosophy at Ben Gurion University, which many experts say contributed to a change in ideals.
By the time he was laid off from Dimona in 1985, his brother says he was feeling uncomfortable with Israel's nuclear secrets.
"He felt a duty -- according to what he said in the court, according to what he said in letters, and in my talks with him -- to speak about it to inform his own people and the international community," said Meir Vanunu.
After moving to Australia, Vanunu met a Colombian journalist who encouraged him to tell his story. Vanunu was in London for talks with The Sunday Times when he disappeared.
Shortly afterward, the newspaper published the photos of Dimona.
Two months later, while being taken into an Israeli court, Vanunu revealed how he was abducted and arrested. He wrote a short account of it in black ink on his hand and showed it to photographers.
He had been lured by a female agent to Rome, where he was drugged and smuggled back to Israel.
"He was extremely angry about that, and angry about the fact that they committed a crime but prevented him from speaking about it," Meir Vanunu said. "I was prevented from talking about it myself."
Convicted of treason and espionage at a closed trial, Vanunu was imprisoned for 18 years, the first 11 of them spent in solitary confinement.
"He is not a great hero but he is courageous," said Israeli filmmaker Nissim Mosek, "and as far as the Israelis go, they live in fear of their security.
"They feel that exposing the secrets of Dimona is putting Israel in danger."
CNN Correspondents Walt Rodgers and Paula Hancocks contributed to this report
