Mordechai Vanunu at Ashkelon’s Shikma prison, Israel. (AFP)

Ashkelon (Israel), April 21 (Reuters): Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu emerged defiant after 18 years in prison today, saying he was proud of revealing secrets that exposed the Jewish state as an atomic power.

Vanunu flashed victory signs and waved as he walked through the gates of Ashkelon’s Shikma Prison, where supporters cheered him as a “peace hero” and counter-demonstrators booed him with chants of “Shut up, atomic spy”. “I am proud and happy to do what I did,” the grey-haired, former nuclear technician said standing before a bank of television cameras.

Vanunu’s 1986 revelations to a British newspaper about the top-secret Dimona reactor led analysts to conclude Israel had amassed an arsenal of 100 to 200 nuclear warheads, one of the world’s largest stockpiles.

Vanunu, 49, complained bitterly of “cruel and barbaric treatment” at the hands of Israel’s security services but insisted he had no more state secrets to divulge after serving his full term on a conviction for treason and espionage.

Fearing he could reveal more classified information, Israel put him under close police surveillance and slapped restrictions on his movements, including a one-year ban on travel abroad.

Vanunu refused to answer questions in Hebrew during an impromptu news conference broadcast live on state television, saying he was protesting Israel’s prohibition on his contacts with foreigners. Most Israelis revile him as a traitor.

“Israel doesn’t need nuclear arms, especially now that all West Asia is free of nuclear arms,” he said. “My message ...to all the world is open the Dimona reactor for inspections.”

Israeli troops killed seven Palestinians, the youngest 13- years-old, in a raid into Gaza today to stop reprisal rocket attacks for the assassination of a top Hamas leader.