The fact that you perceive Vanunu as a positive figure is a matter of your personal political views. I'm sure that Al-qaeda members also don't consider SEALs to be heroes. In Israel Vanunu is considered by most to be a traitor, and he has obviously violated Israeli laws.

But the bigger point is that the people doing those "kidnappings" don't choose their missions. Their democratically elected leaders do it for them. What makes them heroes is that they choose to risk their lives for their country.

It's a great point about their leaders choosing their mission and their risking their lives for country--I agree completely.

However, there are situations where even a soldier must use their conscience. I mean I hate to pull the "Nazi card" but in reality, those people could be tacitly called heroes under the same nationalist banner. This is the danger with Israel. Israel is a great country with a lot of good people, but I personally disagree with their mandatory draft, status as a religious state and their disrespect of the sovereignty of other nations. No country has clean hands, but we cannot compare 'bad actions' side-by-side... we should consider them on a case-by-case basis based on the facts we know. In the case of Vanunu, he is a conscientious objector in a sense and none of the information he divulged materially endanged Israelis more than Private Manning's information. The difference of course is that he was residing outside the country when he committed his crime and he was not a soldier, which entitles him to civilian justice. However, Israel bypassed these considerations and literally kidnapped him in another country's territory. And we haven't even begun to discuss the implications of their nuclear proliferation in spite of the worldwide ban on such activities... they are literally the only country in the world who are getting a free pass on this issue because US foreign aid would be have to be statutorily denied.

Don't misunderstand, I am not arguing the merits of their case... I see the principle issue as the kidnapping of a person in a foreign government's territory. I know the US likes to take liberties with this (such as the case of Bin Laden), but that is something they could be judged on as well... I am speaking of Israel's case specifically.