Mordechai Vanunu: Cases of Libel and Extortion Security and Press

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By Eileen Fleming

Israel’s internal Security Agency is best known by the acronym Shabak or Shin Bet and is similar to the FBI.

This report argues Israel’s Nuclear Whistleblower’s cases of libel and extortion against them by way of definition:

Libel is defamation by written words which becomes a criminal act when published.

Extortion is the crime of obtaining money by the abuse of one’s office or authority.

On Sunday, Mordechai Vanunu emailed a few friends from the UK, Australia and USA:

Dear Friends,

Just to let you know the latest news in my case.

The small change they give me in these restrictions few months ago, (30 minutes to speak to some one in the streets), it did not make any real change.

And my main target is to leave Israel, not meeting any one here. The time of meeting foreigners is over.

So I am ready to leave, whenever they will end these restrictions.

But before I am going to leave I discover by chance, they had prepared another block for my leaving, I found that I owe 100.000 Shekels to the Israel main news paper Yediot Aharonot, because I lost a Libel suit against them in 2005…not only they are allowed to publish lies about me, (that I am sending from prison instructions to the Palestinians how to make bombs,) but I also should pay them, because the lies come from the head of Shaback they can publish them….

BACKGROUND:

Mordechai Vanunu sued Yedioth Ahronoth [Israel’s largest newspaper by way of sales and circulation] over a front-page lead article it published in November 1999 [while Vanunu was in his 13^th year behind bars for telling London’s SUNDAY TIMES everything he knew as a mid-level technician within Israel’s WMD Facility at Dimona.]

Yedioth Ahronoth’s headline read: “Vanunu gave Hamas activists information on bomb assembly in prison” and a second-page insert entitled, “He’s done it again”, claimed Vanunu sent messages containing bomb-making information to incarcerated members of Hamas.

Avigdor Feldman, Vanunu’s defense attorney argued the report was fabricated.

The article was never verified and neither the reporter nor Yedioth Ahronoth asked Vanunu for his response to the claim of the Shin Bet.

The reporter of the piece was Ben Yishai who admitted the information he received came from Ami Ayalon, a head of the Shin Bet security services who spread the the story to a group of nearly a dozen journalists at the end of 1999.

Five months after that meeting Ben Yishai published the only article furthering the fabrication which coincided with Vanunu’s request for an early release from 18-years behind bars.

Not only was Vanunu denied an early release from prison, the restrictions denying him the right to leave Israel have been renewed every six months or so—the latest to expire at the end of May 2015.

Vanunu concluded his March 22^nd email explaining that his Lawyer Feldman and the Lawyer for the Newspaper agreed to reduce the amount Vanunu ‘owes’ to 10,000 USA dollars!

Vanunu wrote, “So now I have to pay this amount before any future leaving Israel, any help from you are very welcome.”

I emailed Vanunu to ask permission to publish his email HERE and Vanunu replied, You can publish it with this indiegogo.