Mordechai Vanunu
Photo: Haim Zach
Israeli nuclear whistleblower gets offer to live with wife in Oslo
Norway grants family reunification request to Kristin Joachimsen, wife of Mordechai Vanunu, who was imprisoned in Israel for 18 years after discussing his work at the Dimona nuclear reactor with a British newspaper; he's unlikely to be allowed to leave Israel due to restrictions put on him following his release.
Norway offered on Friday to let Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu live in Oslo with his Norwegian wife, but she said it was unclear if Israel will allow him to travel.
Vanunu, 62, married theology professor Kristin Joachimsen in Jerusalem in 2015 after first meeting in Israel almost a decade earlier.
She applied for him to be allowed to come to Norway in May 2015 under rules for family reunification and a spokesman for the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration said permission had been granted.
Mordechai Vanunu with his wife Kristin Joachimsen (Photo: Haim Zach)
Vanunu was jailed and served an 18-year sentence after discussing his work at Israel’s Dimona nuclear reactor with a British newspaper in 1986. The interview led experts to conclude the facility had produced fissile material for as many as 200 atomic warheads.
After his release from jail in 2004, Israeli defense authorities imposed strict conditions on Vanunu, including from traveling abroad, alleging he was a security risk and might have new secrets to tell.
Mordechai Vanunu (Photo: Haim Zach)
Joachimsen said the Israeli restrictions were up for review in November and expressed hopes they would be lifted. “We have waited long enough for the case to be solved on Israel’s side,” she said.
The restrictions, upheld by Israel’s Supreme Court, have been condemned by international human rights groups.
