British, Vanunu would be kidnapped in Italy. A Mossad “female assis-
tant agent,” the young and attractive Cheryl Ben-Tov, known by her
cover name “Cindy,” was given the job of enticing Vanunu to Rome.
On the evening of 24 September 1986, Cindy contrived to en-
counter Vanunu while strolling through Leicester Square. They chat-
ted, and she suggested a drink at a pub. During the following few
days, she met him a few times. By then Vanunu was giving his inter-
views to the Sunday Times. On one date she happened to mention her
“apartment in Rome.” She invited Vanunu to go with her for a visit.
The offer was too tempting to refuse. They landed at Rome airport on
30 September 1986 at 9:00 P.M. and took a taxi to Cindy’s apartment.
There, three Mossad case officers awaited them. Vanunu was
grabbed, given a knockout injection, and bundled into a large crate.
This was taken to an Israeli ship and loaded as diplomatic cargo,
which meant that the authorities could not inspect it.
Once the ship was at sea, Vanunu was taken out of the crate, hand-
cuffed, and kept in a guarded cabin. As soon as the vessel docked at
Ashdod in Israel, a colonel of the Israel Police formally arrested him
on security grounds.
When Vanunu did not reappear in London after his weekend away
with Cindy, the Sunday Timesdecided to run the article on the Israeli
nuclear weapons program, with the photos, on 5 October 1986. The
Daily Mirroralready had run a disinformation piece trying to refute
the Sunday Times scoop, but it had a minor effect.
The Vanunu revelations in the Sunday Timescaused a world out-
cry. More was to follow when he was brought to court and everyone
asked how he had been brought back to Israel. He was able to give a
clue, even though he was constantly held in solitary confinement. On
one of his rides to the courthouse in a police van, he pressed his open
palm against the van window; on it he had written “Hijacked in
Rome.” According to Shabtai Shavit, a former Mossad director, the
option of killing Vanunu had been considered in 1986—but he added
that Jews do not kill Jews.
Vanunu was sentenced in 1986 in camera to 18 years in jail for es-
pionage and treason. The Sunday Timeswas probably happy because
it got its story without having to pay for it. In prison, Vanunu was held
in grim conditions of solitary confinement in a 6-by-10-foot (2-by-3-302 • VANUNU, MORDECHAI06-102 (04) Q-Z.qxd 3/24/06 7:26 AM Page 302