Mordechai Vanunu, a former Israeli nuclear plant technician, blew the lid on Israel’s nuclear weapons program, hidden in an undisclosed facility in the Negev Desert near Dimona in 1986. He revealed the existence and strength of the nuclear capability of the middle-east state in a Sunday Times article.
Lured to Rome and kidnapped from there by Israeli Secret Service agents, Vanunu was whisked off to Israel under devious circumstances and tried in a closed courtroom. He spent 18 years in prison, about 11 of which were spent in solitary confinement, and was released in 2004. Not allowed to step out of Israel, Vanunu has a number of restrictions enforced upon him, including the denial of access to any foreign journalists. He has appealed repeatedly to various neutral nations to grant him political asylum, but has been turned down under pressure from the Israeli government. Re-arrested a number of times for violating his restrictions, Vanunu has been branded ‘a prisoner of conscience’ by Amnesty International. A poster boy for the anti-nuclear brigade, Vanunu has been awarded numerous peace prizes and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize a number of times.
What is the case of Mordechai Vanunu and what lessons does it hold for our post-Cold War, 21st century world? Today, nuclear World Wars seem like a possibility and the greatest threat to our peaceful survival stem from fanatic middle-eastern extremists, whose key target enemies are the democracies of the world. Where porous borders allow for the free flow of technology and arms across nations, to the highest bidders; wars are fought targeting pockets of crowded market-places and populous transport, transit sites; and triumphant victory is heralded over monumental heaps of mutilated, dead civilian bodies. In such a scenario, the ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction, with their pitiless facility for catastrophic devastation, would send shivers of raptures down any gleeful fanatic, spacing out his next big ‘shock n awe’.
All of which makes the case for world-wide nuclear disarmament a ‘no brainer’- the most obvious next step for a peaceful planet, planning its continuum over the next millennia of civilized existence.
Meanwhile, the original nuclear weapon states (in particular, Britain, France, Russia, China and the United States) continue to modernize their nuclear arsenals, with little effort to relinquish these weapons. *The 5 UN Security Council permanent members are also the largest arms dealers in the world, with a few developing nations being the largest recipients. The United States has long relied on arms sales to reinforce the position of its allies or enhance collective defense arrangements with ally nations; specifically during the height of the Cold War. But now this scenario has varied and arms sales have stronger economic motivations, rather than political ones, with weapons being supplied to some of the most troubled, conflict-ridden spots in the world.
That brings us to the case of smaller countries like Israel, India and Pakistan. Having fought numerous wars post WW-II, existing in hostile territorial regions with enemy artillery and missiles deployed menacingly in their direction, facing ongoing radical insurgencies and being the target of relentless terrorist incursions; add up to often make the very survival of these nations perilous and fragile. Most of the times these countries are battling to safeguard the crucial endurance of their sovereignty; and hence feel entitled to undertake whatever steps are necessary, including assembling nuclear arsenals, on this critical mission. Then to brand them ‘nuclear powers’, impose detrimental economic sanctions and make them the target of widespread international condemnation, more often than not, at the hands of the latest band of Hollywood rock stars and celebrities; would appear undeniably partisan and iniquitous to the people of these nations. Are they left with any other recourse than to carry out their fortifications quietly, concealed under a mask of ambiguous international co-operation?
And this brings us back to the case of Mr. Mordechai Venunu, a branded traitor in his own country, a hero elsewhere in the world, heralded for his part in exposing nuclear weapons development.
In a thorny international arena, where secrets are tantamount to a peaceful co-existence, a whistle-blower is as detrimental to national interests as any vicious defector. When a nation’s security is at stake, it will not allow opposing elements to run amok, specifically a nation that has had to strife all along for its very existence. Having survived seven major wars/conflicts since its inception, the tiny Jewish state has adopted a hard-line policy in dealing with its fractious neighbors and other antagonist Muslim states. To then expect them to peaceably give up a known hostile element, who continues to advocate his life to criticizing the Israeli state and its policies, would be fantastic in the extreme.
On the other hand, with no more secrets to reveal, Vanunu a bitter and angry man, lashes out at the Israeli government, specifically the ruthless secret service agency Shin Bet, which he blames for the un-humanitarian treatment meted out to him over decades. Desiring nothing but freedom, Vanunu wants the government to release their restrictive hold on his life, and allow him to seek freedom and pursue a life elsewhere in the world. “The only thing I can say is, that 24 years to wait for my freedom is a long, long time for all the world, states, communities, to do for my freedom.”
Today, the world is helpless witness to the situation in which these two parties find themselves trapped; a frustrated man looking for the liberty to live and express himself in a free environment; a small nation fiercely guarding itself against any hostile element. With compelling moral justifications on both sides, the years have turned into decades; yet this is one deadlock that will, perhaps, never be resolved.
(* Source: Richard F. Grimmett, CRS Report for Congress; Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 2001-2008 PDF formatted document. September 4, 2009.)
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