EVERY SPY A PRINCE: The Complete History of Israel's Intelligence Community

by Raviv Dan & Yossi Melman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1990

Everything you wanted to know about Israel's spies and secret services--but were afraid to discover. This comprehensive history and analysis of the Israeli intelligence community offers many original insights into the secret psyche of the Jewish State. Even as CBS correspondent Raviv and Israeli journal Melman describe how the various clandestine operations of the Mandate era melded into Israel's vaunted secret-service agencies, it becomes clear that espionage serves unique ends in this unique country. The British, French, American, and Soviet intelligence agencies served as models of gamesmanship, intrigue, gadgetry, and organization, but only Israel's Mossad, Shin Bet, etc. are assigned to protect coreligionists around the world, to capture or assassinate war criminals and terrorists, and to free captive Jewish communities for emigration. Israel's grim security situation has forced her to pull off spectacular undercover operations to set up her conventional and nuclear defenses and to keep her wealthy, well-armed enemies looking over their shoulder. The book presents new information on some of Israel's greatest intelligence coups and failures, not mincing details of the 1973 operation in Norway that killed a waiter instead of the PLO's ""red prince"" or the more recent Pollard fiasco. We learn that lopsided prisoner exchanges have been made to free Arab double-agents for Israel, and that the Syrian pilot who defected last October did not do so, as claimed, ""out of the blue."" Israeli spies are no longer princes (as in Moses' time). The authors conclude that, in the current death throes of secular Zionism, Israel's covert operatives are no longer paradigms of efficiency and integrity, either.

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1990

Categories: NONFICTION