BBC controversial documentary on Israel's nuclear arsenal
Israel, Politics, 6/30/2003

The documentary splashed fiery questions in its introduction. Which country in the Middle East has undeclared nuclear weapons program? Which country has secret biological and chemical capabilities? Which country in the Middle East whose nuclear sites are not inspected internationally? Which country in the Middle East sentenced one of its citizens to 18 years after he divulged secrets of its nuclear programs?

Israel had objected to the documentary even before airing it, and protested to the BBC against screening the program.

Mordechai Vanunu, Israel's nuclear whistle blower, was jailed in 1986 for publishing photographs of Israel's nuclear bomb factory at Dimona, Olenka Frenkiel of BSC revealed the extent of Israel's nuclear gagging.

Vanunu has spent 17 year in jail, 11 of which were in a minute solitary confinement cell - and he has just had his appeal for parole denied. He will stay in jail until 2004, when his term is expected to end.

Sunday Times journalist Peter Hounam heard rumors in 1986 that an Israeli whistle blower was offering proof of what the world had long suspected. Vanunu was that whistle blower.

His revelations confirmed that Israel was building advanced nuclear weapons.

After the Sunday Times published this scoop, Vanunu was lured to Italy and kidnapped by Mossad agents and illegally smuggled back to Israel. He was tried in secret and convicted of treason and spying. In court, at his parole hearing, Avigdor Feldman, Vanunu's lawyer, argued that his client had no more secrets and should be freed. But the prosecutor had a new argument: the imminent war with Iraq.

After the hearing Mr. Feldman told Correspondent: The prosecutor said that if Vanunu were released, the Americans would probably leave Iraq and go after Israel and Israel's nuclear weapons -- which I found extremely ridiculous."

The real force blocking Vanunu's release is a man who was known only as "Y." In 2001, "Y" was exposed as Yehieyl Horev and it is said that the only thing he fears is publicity. Horev is the head of Israel's most powerful agency nuclear and the only thing he fears is publicity.

Horev is the head of Israel's most powerful intelligence military agency. His accountability has only been to the many prime ministers he has watched come and go in the 16 years he has built his power base.

Yediot Ahronot says: "Horev is a grave danger to Israeli democracy. "He operates with no law, no real scrutiny and no monitoring by the Israeli parliament." Horev was afraid that veterans of the Israeli intelligence and the Israeli nuclear effort would try to maintain their footprint in the history of Israel and tell their story. He wanted to frighten them. Israel never confirms or denies claims that it has nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

The country positions itself outside international treaties, which would make it subject to inspection. For 40 years, most Israelis have been content with this policy-knows as "nuclear ambiguity" But there are some in Israel who argue this policy has had its day. They say the costs of such secrecy to Israeli democracy are too great. Uzi Even, was a young scientist working, in the 60's at Dinona-Israel's nuclear reactor-as did Vanunu.

These old reactors tend to have accidents and he believes that Dimona which is beyond the reach of the Israeli parliament, needs to be brought into a system of accountability and public scrutiny. He explained: "You should have an outside" monitoring. The secrecy more or less created an extraterritorial area in Israel where standard procedures of safety monitoring are not implemented.

So worker safety, environmental question and industrial safety procedures, are not covered, and there are thousands of people working there. Nothing illustrates this better than the sensitive issue of Dimona's cancer victims. In an Israeli documentary in 2002, Dimona workers said accidents had been routine.

They spoke of explosions, fires and liquid and toxic gas leaks that they had to clean, often without protection. The authorities denied they had worked with radioactive materials.

They have refused to compensate them or their families for their facilities for their years of loyal service. Because of the strict secrecy rules they were even unable to fight for their rights.

When a correspondent approached one of the workers, who was dying on cancer, he refused to be interviewed-but with some regret. Unaware he was being filmed, he said "I wanted to talk to you but I have been silenced..

They came from intelligence and told me not to talk. They said I would be like Vanunu. When his sentence is finished he hopes to emigrate to America, an Egyptian report said.

Previous Stories:
  Knesset discusses Israel's nuclear potential   (1/21/2000)
  Israel's nuclear program: the art of saying yes and no together   (8/11/1998)
  Israel's nuclear dilemma and program, part two   (7/11/1998)

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