Spies in the Promised Land: Isser Harel and the Israeli Secret Service

by Michael Bar-Zohar

For 15 years the name of Isser Harel, the man in charge of all the intelligence branches of Israel, was top secret in Israel. Even when he resigned from office in March 1963 his name and picture remained undisclosed. Only in 1965, when he was appointed special adviser on intelligence and security to Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, were his name and picture revealed. But most of his past feats were still kept secret, even when stories about underground activities, the capture of a spy, or a mission abroad were disclosed. Alan Dulles, head of the CIA, declared at the time, “the Israeli services are the best in the world”. For what operations did the Israeli services deserve such credit? What was their modus operandi? How had they been established and developed? How did they conceive rules of ethics and morality? These questions and many more are answered in this book, which reveals the life story and operations of Isser Harel, whom David Ben-Gurion called “the guardian of Israel’s secrets and honor”.

Genres: History, Espionage

319 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 13, 2024

About the author

Professor Michael Bar-Zohar was a member of Knesset (Labour) and wrote the official biography of David Ben Gurion. He has written thirty non-fiction books, and has been translated into sixteen languages, winning many international prizes. He is currently working on a biography of Shimon Peres.

Has written under the pseudonym Michael Barak.

Reviews

[Ajay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Israeli patriots were something else. Massive respect for their selfless service to the state of Israel with utter disregard for their personal safety. Long live Israel.

[Leah G · Rating 4 out of 5]

stumbled across this in the library. Awesome awesome book. Mix of Israeli history and cool spy stories. Iser Harel is a fascinating person and the author appears to have personal connections with a number of important players in the business. I wished there would've been stories about the famous Eli Cohen, rather than just brief references to him. A lot of the stories are told with obvious bias- the author does not like Menachem Begin, or "fanatic" religious Jews, but he still tells great stories about them. Read this and learn many things. What does Iser Harel think about James Bond movies? (He doesnt like them) How do secret services recruit spies? How were Shin Bet and the Mossad founded? Why is it better to use foreign spies in Arab countries rather than Jews born in those countries? What really happened to Yossele, the boy kidnapped by his grandfather in the case that divided the country? And more. I had a lot of fun reading this.