The Bible is so full of astounding stories/historical accounts that one struggles to name the Top Five. Or Top 100.
Surely, though, the account of Gideon’s “army” (Judges 6-8) is near the top. An innovative, obedient servant of the Lord, Gideon led his men against a coalition of Midianite and Amalekite warriors who oppressed the Israelites.
The whole covert action conducted by a much smaller force inspires us today, and the reader would spend his or her time well by reading the account of Gideon. It involves torches, a nighttime raid and lots of shouting.
Now we have a modern account of a small band of men and women who no doubt learned from their biblical ancestors, and their very name today inspires awe, loathing and fear worldwide: Mossad.
The Hebrew word means “The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations” and “the Institute” functions as the long arm of Israeli justice.” Who can forget the famous operations, given the green light by various Israeli premiers: the Munich aftermath, Entebbe, assassinations of bad guys around the globe?
The intelligence gathering of the Israelis is already legendary. Add to the mix a band of focused and highly-trained operatives, and you have the ingredients for an epic spy film.
Gordon Thomas has provided a window into this shadowy but effective group: “Gideon’s Spies – The Secret History of the Mossad.”
You understand, of course, that what follows in his red-hot page-turner is not a tale lifted from all of Israel’s secret vaults (we won’t know about the totality of the Mossad’s effectiveness in this lifetime), but rather a healthy dose of examples that show the importance and lethal results of the Mossad.
In reading my Kindle copy in one sitting, at night, I jumped often: drops of rain on the window, a dog stealthily entering the tiled room, etc. The book is that hair-raising.
Thomas does a masterful job. Tellingly, the first name to appear in the Acknowledgements is that of Israel’s master spy, the late Meir Amit (who perfected the spy technique known as “sleeping with the enemy”). Thomas also thanks, among others, William Buckley. I ask you, what other author can make the Acknowledgments section a scintillating read? The very names listed inspire awe.
The counter-terrorism actions orchestrated by the Mossad are chillingly recounted in “Gideon’s Spies,” and Thomas even manages to include a list of terms that are relevant (“Honey Trap: Sexual entrapment for intelligence purposes”). In addition, Thomas is a master storyteller.
In the darkness of a Tel Aviv cinema in 1945, Rafi Eitan had watched the birth of the nuclear age over Hiroshima. While all around him young soldiers whistled and cheered at the newsreel footage of the devastated Japanese city, he had only two thoughts. Would Israel ever possess such a weapon? Suppose her Arab neighbors obtained one first? From time to time down the years the questions had surfaced in his mind. If Egypt had had a nuclear bomb, it would have won the Suez War and there would have been no Six-Day War or Yom Kippur War. Israel would have been a nuclear desert. With a nuclear weapon, Israel would be invincible.
Thus begins the chapter titled “Gideon’s Nuclear Sword.” It is of course the tale of Israel’s still-mostly-secret nuclear program. Thomas is skilled enough to deal with big-agenda items, such as Israel’s nukes, while also providing riveting accounts of individual spies, such as the urbane David Kimche:
Within Mossad, Kimche was widely regarded as the epitome of the gentleman spy with the cunning of an alley cat. His journey into the Mossad fold began after he left Oxford University with a First in Social Science in 1968. A few months later he was recruited by Mossad, then newly under the command of Meir Amit, who was seeking to introduce into its ranks a sprinkling of university graduates to complement the ruthlessness of men like Rafi Eitan who had learned their skills in the field.
Trust me (no, really), this tale of super spies and global adventures will be one of the most fascinating books you’ll ever read. Just think twice about reading it alone at night. Better to read it in a well-lit public place.
Although now that I think about it, do you really know that the kid taking your order at McDonald’s is really a kid taking your order?
Do you really?
