“Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service” by Michael Bar-Zohar and Nissim Mishal
I began to read this book on 31 July 2024, just after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran. While Israel chose not to comment on the huge historical moment, all fingers still pointed towards Mossad, some to condemn and some to support.
So my immediate reaction was, I got to read more about this notoriously efficient spy agency! As proven yet again by the effectiveness of killing an enemy leader in a different hostile enemy territory, by planted the bomb 2 months in advance. I mean, that took some diligent planning, organizing, and execution.
Now, I’m not in any shape or form a Zionist supporter. In fact I fervently against the land grab colonialism, the brutal apartheid regime, and the horrific genocide taking place in Gaza (which are big topics for other books). But I thought I can learn a lot about Israel by looking from the inside, through their perspectives.
And what better way to see their inner-workings than a book about its most prized weapon, the intelligence agency, which glorifies all of its crimes? A 2012 book at that, which shows the mentality of untouchability from any accountability, and an air of cocky confidence that their Hasbara PR machine will whitewash their wrongdoings into heroic tales. You know, the usual stuff.
Hence, the juicy details in this tell-all book that name names (the main author – a former Knesset member – interviewed plenty of Israeli leaders and Mossad agents), and re-create 21 true stories that are broken down into 21 chapters, complete with all the dangers, the rescue missions, the failed disaster, the hunting down enemies, the legendary characters showing their admittedly impressive methodologies, and most importantly the book shows Israel’s atrocities all over Europe, Latin America, North America, Africa, and of course the Middle East.
It is everything that you imagine a spy novel would look like, with all the fighting, the bomb plotting, the honey trap, the double agent, Trojan Horse virus, and much more, which makes this book a gripping read.
That is, of course, until I remember that all of these events really did occur in real life and the authors had the audacity to brag about Mossad’s crimes and reveal how they can get away with their sh*t. In details. This, makes the book an ever better one, a reference for future evidence that the authors gift-wrapped to the world and for the international courts to see in the future. Excellent work.
THE CHAOS THEORY 