JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israel’s Supreme Court dismissed a request by Mordechai Vanunu, who served 18 years in prison for leaking Israel’s nuclear secrets, to leave Israel.

Vanunu, who was released from prison in 2004, was jailed in Israel for discussing details of his work as a Dimona technician with the British newspaper the Sunday Times of London. He reportedly revealed Israeli nuclear secrets and gave the newspaper photographs of the plant’s operation.

Under the terms of his parole, Vanunu is prohibited from leaving the country, visiting the West Bank, or approaching foreign embassies and speaking with foreign nationals. He also is not permitted to have contact with others online.

Sunday’s decision by the Supreme Court is the seventh time since his release from prison that the restrictions have been extended.

Vanunu told the court he no longer wants to live in Israel. “I cannot live here as a convicted spy, a traitor, an enemy and a Christian,” he said, according to the Times of Israel. Vanunu converted to Christianity in the 1980s.

His attorney told the court that any information Vanunu has about Israel’s nuclear program is very outdated.

The three-judge panel ruled that the state had successfully proven that the restrictions should continue to remain in place, though that they should continue to be periodically reviewed.

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