The identity of the mysterious blonde woman who lured former Israeli nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu out of Britain in September 1986, to eventually face trial for espionage and treason in Jerusalem, was disclosed in this week’s edition of the Sunday Times of London.
The Sunday Times is the newspaper to which Vanunu, once employed at Israel’s nuclear facility in Dimona, gave facts and figures about Israel’s alleged nuclear weapons capabilities.
His nemesis, according to the newspaper, was Cheryl Bentov, 28, the American-born wife of a former major in Israeli military intelligence. The Sunday Times claimed that Bentov, working for Mossad, the Israeli secret service, introduced herself to the lonely, nervous Vanunu in London, as “Cindy.”
He traveled with her to Rome on Sept. I and was kidnapped there by other Israeli agents and taken to Israel against his will. The Sunday Times account contradicts the Israel government’s denial that it was involved in anything illegal on British soil.
The trial of Vanunu, which began last year, is continuing in a Jerusalem court closed to the press and public.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
