Mordechai Vanunu - sentenced to 18 years

MP Jeremy Corbin, Lord Eric Avebury, and actress Susannah York said they would call on the Israeli President, Ezer Weizman, to release Mr Vanunu to mark celebrations for Israel's 50th anniversary. It was her fourth attempt to visit Mr Vanunu in the past five years.

The three flew to Israel in hopes of meeting Mr Vanunu and to present Israel's president with a petition calling for his release.

Protesting outside the Israeli Embassy in London

The visit was timed to coincide with the arrival in Israel of the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

Mr Vanunu is serving an 18-year sentence for espionage and treason, after he was lured by a female Israeli agent from Britain to Rome, and then kidnapped and taken to Israel to stand trial.

Until March 1998, he was held under solitary confinement, and will have his first parole hearing next week.