The Israeli Secret Service

Description

The Israeli secret service is one of the oldest in the world, claims Richard Deacon–author of histories of its Russian, British, and Chinese counterparts–who, in this overview, traces Israeli roots back to the biblical twelve spies. Quickly sketching the role of Jews in the various intelligence services of their adoptive countries, he reasons that the lack of a state plus Israel's current precarious existence together forced the tiny nation to develop one of the most effective and at times unorthodox secret services in the world. This journalistic account–pieced together from newspaper stories, published sources, and some hints of personal interviews–analyzes the integrated Israeli service: Mossad, Shabak (Shin Bet or Internal security service), and military intelligence. Deacon stresses the important interaction between the military and the intelligence services and reiterates the successes and failures in the familiar cases of Elie Cohen, Woffgang Lotz, Israel Beer, the Entebbe Raid, hunts for Nazis, and the more recent anti-terrorist avenger squads. Computer technology and espionage–responsible for the Israeli 1967 victory–and "Psychic Espionage" are some of the unusual sidelights presented in this utilitarian history of Israeli espionage. 1 In the Footsteps of the Twelve 2 Irgun Zvai Leumi Emerges 3 The Creation of Shin Beth 4 Isser Harel and the Mossad 5 The Lavon Affair 6 The Million-Dollar Spy 7 Global Hunt for Nazis 8 The Eichmann Kidnapping - 9 Yuval Ne’eman’s Technological Revolution 10 Nasser’s German Gonnection 11 The Jew Who Posed as a Nazi 12 Swiss Broadside for Harel 13 The Case of Israel Beer 14 The Six-Day War 15 Testing Time for Shabak 16 Mirage Blueprints from Switzerland 17 The Case of the Five Gunboats 18 The Long Arm of the Avengers 19 Disaster at Lillehammer 20 Lessons of the Yom Kippur War 21 The Entebbe Raid 22 The Strange World of Psychic Espionage Notes Bibliography Index