Haaretz
Kislev 23, 5765
LONDON - Israel's atomic
weapons are pushing other countries in the Middle East to develop similar
arms, nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu said Sunday.
He also
said that tensions over Iran's nuclear activities were linked to the
Israeli arsenal.
Iran insists its nuclear program is strictly for
the generation of electricity. But the United States suspects the Middle
East nation has a secret program to develop nuclear weapons, and has
threatened to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council for
sanctions.
"Iran tried to put pressure on the world to deal with
Israel," Vanunu told Sky News TV, defying a government order that bans him
from talking to the media.
"Iran doesn't need, I think, atomic
bombs. Iran doesn't want to fight any state with atomic bombs," he said.
"But because the world [is] ignoring Israel, that pushes Iran and other
states to try to be equal with Israel."
Vanunu also said he felt
unsafe living in Israel, although he didn't specify what threat he faced.
A convert to Christianity, he has been living at St. George's Anglican
Cathedral in Jerusalem since his release from jail in April.
"I
don't feel safe, I don't feel free, the only place I can feel freedom and
enjoy new life after 18 years will be far away from Israel, abroad in
England, or in Europe, or the United States," he told Sky News
TV.