HEAD OF THE MOSSAD

The leader of the Israeli foreign intelligence service from 1989 to 1996 tells his story without revealing too much.

Among other significant historical events, Shavit’s tenure coincided with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the First Intifada, the Oslo Accords, and the election and assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Also during this time, relations among Arab countries shifted dramatically as the U.S. embarked on the first Gulf War and the Palestinian National Authority established itself in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, becoming a political body. Furthermore, writes the author, “the nature of terrorism during this period also changed beyond recognition.” Shavit (b. 1939) joined the Mossad in 1964 and moved up the ladder during the subsequent decades, taking the reins in the spring of 1989. He was appointed by Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir after the retirement of outgoing director Nahum Admoni. As Shavit notes, the Mossad does not deal with internal Israel intelligence but rather with issues in the greater Middle East and beyond, especially in terms of unconventional warfare and global terrorism—a role similar to that of the CIA in America. However, the Mossad’s scope has expanded since the mid-1970s and the intelligence fiasco of the Yom Kippur War. Readers hoping for a glimpse inside the secret operations of the Mossad will be disappointed, as Shavit underscores the importance of secrecy in conducting its operations. In that vein, the author criticizes the idea of total transparency, such as in the Edward Snowden revelations, as leading to “anarchy.” Shavit’s mostly straightforward approach is consistently systematic, especially in sections such as “How To Confront Fundamentalist International Terrorism,” though he does flesh out certain iconic figures with whom he worked during fraught times, including Rabin and King Hussein of Jordan.

A well-documented yet dry, logistical delineation of decades of sensitive Israeli security and intelligence concerns.