ISRAEL VERSUS JIBRIL

An arresting account of Ahmed Jibril, the technoterrorist mastermind whose exploits include the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie. Israeli-American military historian Katz (Days of Fire, 1968) details Jibril's past and present terrorist operations as head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command. Presented by the author as a lethal threat to the democratic world, Jibril emerges as an egotistic, mad genius of mayhem who pulled off a series of brazen skyjackings, kidnappings, and assassinations in several countries without risking more than a few expendable henchmen. His daring hang-glider attack on an Israeli army base is credited with having jump-started the Intifada. But his cause, as well as that of the Palestinians, is tarnished in Katz's view by all the big bucks earned and by the indiscriminate murder committed in the name of liberation politics. Moreover, the armed Palestinian factions—particularly Jibril's—are seen engaged in fratricidal combat more fierce than their confrontations with outside enemies. Apart from the Palestinians exploited for the larger cause, Katz depicts various naive European women who were wooed by Arab men for the sole purpose of serving as conduits for explosives. A chronology of terrorists attacks, a rundown of armed Palestinian groups, and a listing of Israel's counterterrorist units append this fast-paced record of Jibril's exploits and his uncanny ability to stay a step ahead of the world's intelligence community. As exciting as a good thriller—but far more frightening.