What do you think?
Rate this book
Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad
Created in 1951 to ensure the future of an embattled Israel, the Mossad has been responsible for the most audacious and thrilling feats of espionage, counterterrorism, and assassination ever ventured. For the first time ever, resulting from closed-door interviews between the author and Mossad agents, informants, and spymasters, as well as classified documents and top-secret sources, the truth about the Mossad is about to be revealed. From the Mossad agent in the Clinton White House who enabled Israel to call the shots in the ongoing Middle East peace process to the nuclear secrets smuggled out of the U.S. and used to jump-start Israel's own atomic weapons program, Gideon's Spies reveals the Mossad as it truly brilliant, ruthless, flawed, but ultimately awesome.
382 pages, Paperback
First published March 12, 1999
About the author
Gordon Thomas
123 books203 followersGordon Thomas (born 1933) is a Welsh author who has written more than fifty books.
Thomas was born in Wales, in a cemetery keeper's cottage where his grandmother lived. He had his first story published at nine years old in a Boy's Own Paper competition. With his father in the RAF, he traveled widely and was educated at the Cairo High School, the Maritz Brothers (in Port Elizabeth, South Africa) and, lastly, at Bedford Modern School. His first book, completed at the age of seventeen, is the story of a British spy in Russia during World War II, titled Descent Into Danger. He refused the offer of a job at a university in order to accompany a traveling fair for a year: he used those experiences for his novel, Bed of Nails. Since then his books have been published worldwide. He has been a foreign correspondent beginning with the Suez Crisis and ending with the first Gulf War. He was a BBC writer/producer for three flagship BBC programmes: Man Alive, Tomorrow's World and Horizon.
He is a regular contributor to Facta, the respected monthly Japanese news magazine, and he lectures widely on the secret world of intelligence. He also provides expert analysis on intelligence for US and European television and radio programs.His book Gideon's Spies: Mossad's Secret Warriors became a major documentary for Channel Four that he wrote and narrated: The Spy Machine. It followed three years of research during which he was given unprecedented access to Mossad’s main personnel. The documentary was co-produced by Open Media and Israfilm.
Gideon's Spies: Mossad's Secret Warriors has so far been published in 16 languages. A source for this book was Ari Ben-Menashe, a former Israeli intelligence agent, and legendary Israeli spy Rafi Eitan. According to Charles Foster in Contemporary Review: "Writers who know their place are few and far between: fortunately Mr Thomas is one of them. By keeping to his place as a tremendous storyteller without a preacher's pretensions, he has put his book amongst the important chronicles of the state of Israel."
Thomas was born in Wales, in a cemetery keeper's cottage where his grandmother lived. He had his first story published at nine years old in a Boy's Own Paper competition. With his father in the RAF, he traveled widely and was educated at the Cairo High School, the Maritz Brothers (in Port Elizabeth, South Africa) and, lastly, at Bedford Modern School. His first book, completed at the age of seventeen, is the story of a British spy in Russia during World War II, titled Descent Into Danger. He refused the offer of a job at a university in order to accompany a traveling fair for a year: he used those experiences for his novel, Bed of Nails. Since then his books have been published worldwide. He has been a foreign correspondent beginning with the Suez Crisis and ending with the first Gulf War. He was a BBC writer/producer for three flagship BBC programmes: Man Alive, Tomorrow's World and Horizon.
He is a regular contributor to Facta, the respected monthly Japanese news magazine, and he lectures widely on the secret world of intelligence. He also provides expert analysis on intelligence for US and European television and radio programs.His book Gideon's Spies: Mossad's Secret Warriors became a major documentary for Channel Four that he wrote and narrated: The Spy Machine. It followed three years of research during which he was given unprecedented access to Mossad’s main personnel. The documentary was co-produced by Open Media and Israfilm.
Gideon's Spies: Mossad's Secret Warriors has so far been published in 16 languages. A source for this book was Ari Ben-Menashe, a former Israeli intelligence agent, and legendary Israeli spy Rafi Eitan. According to Charles Foster in Contemporary Review: "Writers who know their place are few and far between: fortunately Mr Thomas is one of them. By keeping to his place as a tremendous storyteller without a preacher's pretensions, he has put his book amongst the important chronicles of the state of Israel."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 295 reviews
May 21, 2013
The most entertaining one-star book you may ever read. If I'm rating based on the sheer page-turner appeal of the first half of the book, I give it two or three stars. Gideon's Spies is chalk full of harrowing tales of treachery, boldness, and bravery, written in the voice of a murder mystery. The trouble is Thomas's shoddy writing, or, to be fair to Thomas, perhaps it's the publishing house's shoddy editing.
It's hard to take very seriously a book that claims the Lockerbie bombings took place in 1998. Thomas also doesn't do himself any favors in the credibility department by kicking the book off with a lengthy 30 page examination of the Princess Diana conspiracy theories. Look, maybe Mossad was involved -- I don't know. But if you're trying to establish credibility, at least bury the stuff about Di somewhere in the middle once you've convinced the reader that you're to be taken seriously.
Further, there's no coherent narrative to this book. Thomas jumps all over the place chronologically. We start in 1997, then it's the 1920s through the 1960s, then it's the nineties again, then back to the 1980s. It was impossible to pick up a thread. All that was going on was that Thomas was threading together one cool story after another. And, again, I give the guy props for telling some really cool stories. That's why this book has one star instead of zero.
But things completely fall apart after about 350 pages. At that point, the first edition clearly ends, and the final 300 pages is tacked on. Literally tacked on. Thomas did additional research -- kudos for that -- but made seemingly no effort to integrate the updated material with the earlier stuff. He defines terms we already learned. He rehashes stories -- dude, we already heard that story 200 pages ago! He mixes up dates. He does this weird thing when he quotes people where he writes "(insert quote here)," said So-and-So (to the author). I have just never seen that before in a serious, real book, and it came across very sophomoric.
I think Thomas could have done himself a lot of favors, and given his obviously very thorough research a real air of authority and reality if he had integrated the last half of the book into the first half, checked his dates, written a bit less breezily, and left certain stories completely out. As is, this is only passable fiction. Which is a shame, because, if true, this book is groundbreaking. The trouble is we can't take anything we read here seriously, even if we should.
It's hard to take very seriously a book that claims the Lockerbie bombings took place in 1998. Thomas also doesn't do himself any favors in the credibility department by kicking the book off with a lengthy 30 page examination of the Princess Diana conspiracy theories. Look, maybe Mossad was involved -- I don't know. But if you're trying to establish credibility, at least bury the stuff about Di somewhere in the middle once you've convinced the reader that you're to be taken seriously.
Further, there's no coherent narrative to this book. Thomas jumps all over the place chronologically. We start in 1997, then it's the 1920s through the 1960s, then it's the nineties again, then back to the 1980s. It was impossible to pick up a thread. All that was going on was that Thomas was threading together one cool story after another. And, again, I give the guy props for telling some really cool stories. That's why this book has one star instead of zero.
But things completely fall apart after about 350 pages. At that point, the first edition clearly ends, and the final 300 pages is tacked on. Literally tacked on. Thomas did additional research -- kudos for that -- but made seemingly no effort to integrate the updated material with the earlier stuff. He defines terms we already learned. He rehashes stories -- dude, we already heard that story 200 pages ago! He mixes up dates. He does this weird thing when he quotes people where he writes "(insert quote here)," said So-and-So (to the author). I have just never seen that before in a serious, real book, and it came across very sophomoric.
I think Thomas could have done himself a lot of favors, and given his obviously very thorough research a real air of authority and reality if he had integrated the last half of the book into the first half, checked his dates, written a bit less breezily, and left certain stories completely out. As is, this is only passable fiction. Which is a shame, because, if true, this book is groundbreaking. The trouble is we can't take anything we read here seriously, even if we should.
April 19, 2010
كانت المشكلة الأولى للكتاب، أنه ممنوع.. وقد تجاوزت هذا وتمكنت من جلبه من بيروت.. ولكن المشكلة التي واجهتني فيما بعد... هي سياسة النقاط الثلاث... حيث يحوي الكتاب العديد من الفراغات ذات النقاط الثلاث.. إذا كان المترجم هو من وضعها بدل بعض الكلمات الحساسة.. فهو قد خان أمانة الترجمة.. وإذا كانت دار النشر هي التي قامت بهذا.. فكان ينبغي على الأقل الإشارة إلى ذلك.. ولكن لا حياة لمن تنادي
المهم يبدو أن القارئ سيستمتع بشكل ما باستخدام ذكائه لمعرفة الكلمات المغيبة
تحياتي لسياسة النقاط الثلاث...
المهم يبدو أن القارئ سيستمتع بشكل ما باستخدام ذكائه لمعرفة الكلمات المغيبة
تحياتي لسياسة النقاط الثلاث...
January 23, 2023
Magnífico libro. Riguroso y bien documentado, y con revelaciones sorprendentes y tremendamente interesantes sobre uno de los servicios secretos que ha llevado a cabo acciones más espectaculares a lo largo de la historia. Si le añadimos revelaciones tan poco conocidas también como las relativas a los servicios secretos vaticanos, tenemos un libro de divulgación que parece una apasionante novela de espías. Muy recomendable, y de un autor fiable.
Gordon Thomas es un magnífico periodista que acude siempre a las fuentes originales para documentarse, sean éstas archivos desclasificados, hechos revelados públicamente por diferentes medios, o entrevistas con los principales protagonistas de su historia, incluyendo tanto antiguos agentes como directores o ex directores de las principales agencias de inteligencia mundiales.
Evidentemente, uno no puede esperar descubrir en estos libros grandes secretos: lo que es verdaderamente secreto, sigue siéndolo; en el fondo, estos libros no hacen más que remover y dar más publicidad a lo que alguna vez se ha filtrado de una u otra forma y que, aunque ya se haya hecho público, en general no interesa recordar. Pero aunque sólo sea por exponer en su conjunto todas las piezas visibles de este complejo rompecabezas que es la actividad de inteligencia, eso ya sirve para tener una visión relativamente nítida y sorprendente de lo que se cuece en los entresijos de la política internacional. Seguro que estos libros no nos permiten ver la foto completa, está claro… pero los pequeños fragmentos recompuestos y sacados a la luz ya nos dejan hacernos una idea de lo que puede haber más allá. Y eso ya es mucho más de lo que la mayoría conocíamos antes de acercarnos a estos libros.
El servicio secreto israelí, el Mossad se ha distinguido siempre por dos cosas: su gran eficacia, y su desprecio por “el qué dirán”. Al igual que ha sucedido a menudo con la política de Israel con sus vecinos árabes, la inteligencia israelí ha ejercido con éxito el ojo por ojo, asesinando a sangre fría a sus enemigos a lo largo y ancho del mundo. La forma de actuar del Mossad es en gran medida la típica que estamos acostumbrados a ver en las películas de espías: expertos agentes repartidos por el mundo que se toman la justicia por su mano, que ejecutan sin piedad en plena calle tanto a terroristas como a agentes rivales o simplemente a personas “peligrosas” para los intereses de Israel, o que roban los secretos más íntimamente guardados con maniobras a menudo asombrosas y espectaculares; comandos que asaltan aviones secuestrados, o que atacan barcos en alta mar matando a su tripulación y hundiéndolos para no dejar huellas... Esta forma de actuar tan explícita ha conseguido que muchas de las grandes actuaciones del instituto israelí salgan a la luz, dándole fama internacional: son acciones que se planean en secreto, pero que por su misma naturaleza se convierten en públicas a la hora de llevarlas a cabo. El secuestro y asesinato en plena calle de personas en otros países, o el robo de aviones de combate enemigos de última generación, por ejemplo, no son actividades que pasen desapercibidas. Pero como vemos a diario en las noticias, para Israel a menudo el fin justifica los medios, despreciando la imagen que todo esto pueda darles en el exterior. Curiosamente, en el caso del Mossad, esta publicidad en principio negativa (al saltarse cualquier norma moral o de “corrección política” y al llevar a cabo acciones delictivas fuera de su territorio nacional) le ha valido, en el fondo, la admiración a nivel mundial.
Es precisamente la espectacularidad de gran parte de sus acciones más conocidas lo que le da un especial interés a este libro, ya que la historia de la agencia israelí se convierte casi en un relato de espías digno de Hollywood. A lo largo del texto se van sucediendo los detalles de acciones como el secuestro del nazi Adolf Ecihmann en Argentina para enviarlo secretamente a Israel; el asesinato en plena calle, a lo largo y ancho del mundo, de los terroristas autores de la matanza del equipo olímpico israelí en las olimpiadas de Munich; el robo de un Mig 21 y, años después, de un Mig 29 (en cada momento, uno de los aviones de combate insignia de la Unión Soviética); el robo en Francia de los planos del avión de combate Mirage III y su posterior copia en Israel; el envío en secreto a Entebbe (Uganda) de un comando para asaltar un avión israelí secuestrado, consiguiendo matar a los terroristas y liberar a los rehenes (con alguna baja civil, eso sí)… En fin, espectaculares acciones históricas bien conocidas por casi todo el mundo, pero que, al ser relatadas con todo detalle en este libro, lo convierten casi en una novela apasionante.
Por supuesto, hay mucho más que el relato de las operaciones más famosas del Mossad: el texto se adentra también en temas tan poco conocidos y tan escabrosos como la involucración del espionaje israelí en el escándalo Clinton-Lewinsky; o en el intento de asesinato de Juan Pablo II por Alí Agca; o la sustracción de material en los Estados Unidos para poner a punto el programa nuclear hebreo; o la despiadada guerra a muerte entre agencias de inteligencia rivales por tomar el control de Africa; o incluso la presencia de agentes del Mossad en el accidente en que murió la princesa Diana de Inglaterra, entre otros.
También se revelan hechos poco conocidos y a menudo también bastante sorprendentes, como las actividades de inteligencia y de política internacional del Vaticano (y sus estrechas relaciones con la CIA), o la red de colaboradores de que dispone la inteligencia israelí en puntos clave a lo largo y ancho del mundo (simpatizantes judíos que, sin ser agentes, aportan información o realizan acciones a favor de los intereses de Israel).
En fin, como creo que podréis intuir con esta breve muestra, se trata de un libro que abre mucho los ojos, y con el que no paras de llevarte sorpresas. Si además le sumas su alto grado de rigor y que está escrito de forma bastante amena, el resultado es que me ha parecido un libro de lo más interesante y recomendable.
Gordon Thomas es un magnífico periodista que acude siempre a las fuentes originales para documentarse, sean éstas archivos desclasificados, hechos revelados públicamente por diferentes medios, o entrevistas con los principales protagonistas de su historia, incluyendo tanto antiguos agentes como directores o ex directores de las principales agencias de inteligencia mundiales.
Evidentemente, uno no puede esperar descubrir en estos libros grandes secretos: lo que es verdaderamente secreto, sigue siéndolo; en el fondo, estos libros no hacen más que remover y dar más publicidad a lo que alguna vez se ha filtrado de una u otra forma y que, aunque ya se haya hecho público, en general no interesa recordar. Pero aunque sólo sea por exponer en su conjunto todas las piezas visibles de este complejo rompecabezas que es la actividad de inteligencia, eso ya sirve para tener una visión relativamente nítida y sorprendente de lo que se cuece en los entresijos de la política internacional. Seguro que estos libros no nos permiten ver la foto completa, está claro… pero los pequeños fragmentos recompuestos y sacados a la luz ya nos dejan hacernos una idea de lo que puede haber más allá. Y eso ya es mucho más de lo que la mayoría conocíamos antes de acercarnos a estos libros.
El servicio secreto israelí, el Mossad se ha distinguido siempre por dos cosas: su gran eficacia, y su desprecio por “el qué dirán”. Al igual que ha sucedido a menudo con la política de Israel con sus vecinos árabes, la inteligencia israelí ha ejercido con éxito el ojo por ojo, asesinando a sangre fría a sus enemigos a lo largo y ancho del mundo. La forma de actuar del Mossad es en gran medida la típica que estamos acostumbrados a ver en las películas de espías: expertos agentes repartidos por el mundo que se toman la justicia por su mano, que ejecutan sin piedad en plena calle tanto a terroristas como a agentes rivales o simplemente a personas “peligrosas” para los intereses de Israel, o que roban los secretos más íntimamente guardados con maniobras a menudo asombrosas y espectaculares; comandos que asaltan aviones secuestrados, o que atacan barcos en alta mar matando a su tripulación y hundiéndolos para no dejar huellas... Esta forma de actuar tan explícita ha conseguido que muchas de las grandes actuaciones del instituto israelí salgan a la luz, dándole fama internacional: son acciones que se planean en secreto, pero que por su misma naturaleza se convierten en públicas a la hora de llevarlas a cabo. El secuestro y asesinato en plena calle de personas en otros países, o el robo de aviones de combate enemigos de última generación, por ejemplo, no son actividades que pasen desapercibidas. Pero como vemos a diario en las noticias, para Israel a menudo el fin justifica los medios, despreciando la imagen que todo esto pueda darles en el exterior. Curiosamente, en el caso del Mossad, esta publicidad en principio negativa (al saltarse cualquier norma moral o de “corrección política” y al llevar a cabo acciones delictivas fuera de su territorio nacional) le ha valido, en el fondo, la admiración a nivel mundial.
Es precisamente la espectacularidad de gran parte de sus acciones más conocidas lo que le da un especial interés a este libro, ya que la historia de la agencia israelí se convierte casi en un relato de espías digno de Hollywood. A lo largo del texto se van sucediendo los detalles de acciones como el secuestro del nazi Adolf Ecihmann en Argentina para enviarlo secretamente a Israel; el asesinato en plena calle, a lo largo y ancho del mundo, de los terroristas autores de la matanza del equipo olímpico israelí en las olimpiadas de Munich; el robo de un Mig 21 y, años después, de un Mig 29 (en cada momento, uno de los aviones de combate insignia de la Unión Soviética); el robo en Francia de los planos del avión de combate Mirage III y su posterior copia en Israel; el envío en secreto a Entebbe (Uganda) de un comando para asaltar un avión israelí secuestrado, consiguiendo matar a los terroristas y liberar a los rehenes (con alguna baja civil, eso sí)… En fin, espectaculares acciones históricas bien conocidas por casi todo el mundo, pero que, al ser relatadas con todo detalle en este libro, lo convierten casi en una novela apasionante.
Por supuesto, hay mucho más que el relato de las operaciones más famosas del Mossad: el texto se adentra también en temas tan poco conocidos y tan escabrosos como la involucración del espionaje israelí en el escándalo Clinton-Lewinsky; o en el intento de asesinato de Juan Pablo II por Alí Agca; o la sustracción de material en los Estados Unidos para poner a punto el programa nuclear hebreo; o la despiadada guerra a muerte entre agencias de inteligencia rivales por tomar el control de Africa; o incluso la presencia de agentes del Mossad en el accidente en que murió la princesa Diana de Inglaterra, entre otros.
También se revelan hechos poco conocidos y a menudo también bastante sorprendentes, como las actividades de inteligencia y de política internacional del Vaticano (y sus estrechas relaciones con la CIA), o la red de colaboradores de que dispone la inteligencia israelí en puntos clave a lo largo y ancho del mundo (simpatizantes judíos que, sin ser agentes, aportan información o realizan acciones a favor de los intereses de Israel).
En fin, como creo que podréis intuir con esta breve muestra, se trata de un libro que abre mucho los ojos, y con el que no paras de llevarte sorpresas. Si además le sumas su alto grado de rigor y que está escrito de forma bastante amena, el resultado es que me ha parecido un libro de lo más interesante y recomendable.
December 7, 2013
This is an interesting book to review. While I learned quite a bit from this book, I take issue with the fill-in-the-gap nature that the author of this book takes when he doesn't have evidence to present with the assertions that he makes. There is no doubt that the author harbors an anti-Israeli bias and this tone is evident throughout the book. I am willing to read books and objectively consider the evidence at hand regardless of my preconceived beliefs. In first reading this book, I expected the book to be one in which facts and evidence was presented of past actions of the Mossad. There is no doubt that the Mossad has been responsible for assassinations and other forms of sabotage so simply presenting the evidence and the facts is what I expected this book would be of. Throughout the book, the author speculates and inserts his own beliefs and conspiracy theories rather than simply presenting the evidence at hand. He does this often by "raising questions" and making speculations. Not to mention that footnotes of his claims are not provided. Again, there is no doubt that there is truth to many of the stories that the author shares. Still, some of the claims are pure conspiracy theories. For example, he speculates that the Mossad or the CIA had a hand in the Pan-AM terrorist attack. He also likes to rely on anonymous sources and his own insinuations and beliefs based on not evidence. This is what makes many of the claims of the author questionable. I am not Israeli nor Jewish. I am Iranian-American atheist. I simply wanted to learn of the facts with evidence rather than the tangents that the author goes off in many directions. The editing was also poorly done with many grammar mistakes. This book was an interesting read indeed. It simply is one in which the conclusion of the cases he presents were often time muddied by his tangents that were more often than not his own speculations devoid of evidence.
November 15, 2014
In the world of smoke and mirrors that the world intelligence services operate in, Mossad are considered to be the best in terms of the quality and quantity of intelligence that they collect. AS well as that the missions that they undertake are audacious, brave and just a little bit foolhardy.
In this book, Thomas has brought together details of those missions and operations that Mossad has either undertaken, or has played a part in. Through his extensive contacts in a variety of intelligence services he has attempted to fill in the gaps in the public record of events or we were not even aware of in most cases. He covers events such as 9/11, the death of Diana, the horrendous rendition flights that the CIA undertook, the obliteration of the Syrian nuclear facility and lots more.
Whilst a lot of this was interesting, the book did drag. It is nearly 700 pages of closely typed text, and the mass os facts and detail does get overwhelming at times. With all of these types of books, you have to take them with a little salt, as I cannot believe every thing in here is true. But it does show Mossad as very proficient and brutal.
In this book, Thomas has brought together details of those missions and operations that Mossad has either undertaken, or has played a part in. Through his extensive contacts in a variety of intelligence services he has attempted to fill in the gaps in the public record of events or we were not even aware of in most cases. He covers events such as 9/11, the death of Diana, the horrendous rendition flights that the CIA undertook, the obliteration of the Syrian nuclear facility and lots more.
Whilst a lot of this was interesting, the book did drag. It is nearly 700 pages of closely typed text, and the mass os facts and detail does get overwhelming at times. With all of these types of books, you have to take them with a little salt, as I cannot believe every thing in here is true. But it does show Mossad as very proficient and brutal.
December 7, 2010
A terrific read with the ins and outs of any spy book only this time the names and events are not necessarily changed to protect people. It is the true history of the development of the Mossad; its missions; its successes; its failures.
I was half-way through the book when my father said it looked interesting and wanted to borrow it. I was horrified but I survived. Thankfully, he is a fast reader and he returned it in a few days with a huge smile on his face. As a career military man, I took that as a sign that the book that was already quite good was going to get better.
It did.
The history threads its way through the directorships of the Mossad and how they affected the way it was run and how the personality of the agency changed with each change of personnel. Some myths of the Mossad were confirmed and some dispelled. Greater detail about the inner workings were given than I ever expected. At times, it felt as if I were accompanying a spy on a particular "op." It was fascinating.
I enjoyed the political and social details which offer greater explanation of what was going on at the time -- more than was ever publicized internationally. It was interesting to have both views of the same picture which made the whole even more interesting than either on its own.
The individuals come alive, their personal agendas versus those of their assignments and the Mossad, the conflicts, the State versus the Jewish faith, being wholly dedicated to eradicating the enemies of the State -- a very rich and informative read.
I was half-way through the book when my father said it looked interesting and wanted to borrow it. I was horrified but I survived. Thankfully, he is a fast reader and he returned it in a few days with a huge smile on his face. As a career military man, I took that as a sign that the book that was already quite good was going to get better.
It did.
The history threads its way through the directorships of the Mossad and how they affected the way it was run and how the personality of the agency changed with each change of personnel. Some myths of the Mossad were confirmed and some dispelled. Greater detail about the inner workings were given than I ever expected. At times, it felt as if I were accompanying a spy on a particular "op." It was fascinating.
I enjoyed the political and social details which offer greater explanation of what was going on at the time -- more than was ever publicized internationally. It was interesting to have both views of the same picture which made the whole even more interesting than either on its own.
The individuals come alive, their personal agendas versus those of their assignments and the Mossad, the conflicts, the State versus the Jewish faith, being wholly dedicated to eradicating the enemies of the State -- a very rich and informative read.
August 23, 2009
Gordon Thomas may be right to boast about what he claims are the unprecendented number and range of interviews that he conducted with high-ranking officials from Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service. Yet while the fruits of those interviews may be of interest in a “spy novel” sense, Thomas’ presentation of their sum mostly does not lead to a greater understanding of Israeil policy, or much of anything else. Dramatic and intriguing they may be, but tales of Mossad officials cavorting around the world, kidnapping former Nazis and recruiting operatives in French hotels, are not of much interest in any larger sense. There are hints of items of real interest here, that would in fact tell us something about Israeli machinations – such as collaboration with the apartheid regime of South Africa, or very scant references to arming South American dictators – though Thomas’ establishment-friendly lens prevents him from exploring these topics in any depth. One also notes a regrettable tendency to characterize any Israel foreign policy or intelligence misdeeds as stemming entirely from factors internal to Israel, thus ignoring the fundamental US role.
March 27, 2014
-A medio camino entre la historia y la teoría de la conspiración-.
Género. Ensayo.
Lo que nos cuenta. Monografía, casi novelizada por momentos, sobre el Mossad, su historia, varias de sus acciones más conocidas, otras que no lo son tanto y algunas que podríamos situar en el terreno de la “leyenda”.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Ensayo.
Lo que nos cuenta. Monografía, casi novelizada por momentos, sobre el Mossad, su historia, varias de sus acciones más conocidas, otras que no lo son tanto y algunas que podríamos situar en el terreno de la “leyenda”.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
December 18, 2024
كتاب مليء بالتفاصيل يلقي نظرة عن عالم الاستخبارات بشكل عام والموساد الصهيوني بشكل خاص.
استمتعت به، لكن عكر متعتي حذف الكثير من أسماء الدول العربية والشخصيات و"حزب الله" وتعويضها بنقاط .... قد يبرر ذلك بمحاولة تجنب المنع في الدول المذكورة، لكن الأمر مزعج عرقل قراءتي واضطرني للبحث عن النسخة الأصلية الإنجليزية على الإنترنت وقد وجدتها لحسن الحظ، لكني اكتشفت ما هو أسوء حين وصلت إلى آخر الكتاب. اكتشفت أن الثلاثة فصول الأخيرة محذوفة من النسخة العربية، واحزروا! الثلاثة فصول تتحدث عن لبنان وسوريا وحزب الله.
هذا ثاني كتاب أقرؤه يحذف فصول عن سوريا، الأول كان "كل جيش الكريملين" لدار نشر ممدوح عدوان. وكان يصف فيه الكاتب بشار بعد لقاءه به بضعيف الشخصية والأبله.
الحمد لله الذي خلص منه سوريا ونصر الشعب السوري عليه وعلى من دعمه.
كان يمكن كتابة ملاحظة على الأقل ينتبه القارئ إلى أن الكتاب غير كامل. لكن بهذه الطريقة اعتبره غش.
استمتعت به، لكن عكر متعتي حذف الكثير من أسماء الدول العربية والشخصيات و"حزب الله" وتعويضها بنقاط .... قد يبرر ذلك بمحاولة تجنب المنع في الدول المذكورة، لكن الأمر مزعج عرقل قراءتي واضطرني للبحث عن النسخة الأصلية الإنجليزية على الإنترنت وقد وجدتها لحسن الحظ، لكني اكتشفت ما هو أسوء حين وصلت إلى آخر الكتاب. اكتشفت أن الثلاثة فصول الأخيرة محذوفة من النسخة العربية، واحزروا! الثلاثة فصول تتحدث عن لبنان وسوريا وحزب الله.
هذا ثاني كتاب أقرؤه يحذف فصول عن سوريا، الأول كان "كل جيش الكريملين" لدار نشر ممدوح عدوان. وكان يصف فيه الكاتب بشار بعد لقاءه به بضعيف الشخصية والأبله.
الحمد لله الذي خلص منه سوريا ونصر الشعب السوري عليه وعلى من دعمه.
كان يمكن كتابة ملاحظة على الأقل ينتبه القارئ إلى أن الكتاب غير كامل. لكن بهذه الطريقة اعتبره غش.
March 27, 2014
-A medio camino entre la historia y la teoría de la conspiración-.
Género. Ensayo.
Lo que nos cuenta. Monografía, casi novelizada por momentos, sobre el Mossad, su historia, varias de sus acciones más conocidas, otras que no lo son tanto y algunas que podríamos situar en el terreno de la “leyenda”.
¿Quiere saber más del libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Merged review:
-A medio camino entre la historia y la teoría de la conspiración-.
Género. Ensayo.
Lo que nos cuenta. Monografía, casi novelizada por momentos, sobre el Mossad, su historia, varias de sus acciones más conocidas, otras que no lo son tanto y algunas que podríamos situar en el terreno de la “leyenda”.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Ensayo.
Lo que nos cuenta. Monografía, casi novelizada por momentos, sobre el Mossad, su historia, varias de sus acciones más conocidas, otras que no lo son tanto y algunas que podríamos situar en el terreno de la “leyenda”.
¿Quiere saber más del libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Merged review:
-A medio camino entre la historia y la teoría de la conspiración-.
Género. Ensayo.
Lo que nos cuenta. Monografía, casi novelizada por momentos, sobre el Mossad, su historia, varias de sus acciones más conocidas, otras que no lo son tanto y algunas que podríamos situar en el terreno de la “leyenda”.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
October 1, 2016
So where to start. This book came very highly recommended from a co-worker as an educational tool regarding Mossad. Specifically there were a lot of items in it that did relate to project and program management (i.e. planning for revenge on the Olympian attackers, assassinations, etc). This part was very interesting in how they plan, test and execute.
I will say though the intriguing analysis was on Diane's murder. Yes, we in America heard what was going on, we mourned (ok some of us) and listened to the conspiracy theories begin. I will say that the theory proposed sounds very likely, additionally with the autopsy and theories out of that. I found this very fascinating. I also found the evolution of Mossad through the Iran / Iraq conflicts interesting.
I will say though the intriguing analysis was on Diane's murder. Yes, we in America heard what was going on, we mourned (ok some of us) and listened to the conspiracy theories begin. I will say that the theory proposed sounds very likely, additionally with the autopsy and theories out of that. I found this very fascinating. I also found the evolution of Mossad through the Iran / Iraq conflicts interesting.
July 10, 2010
من أجمل ماقرأت ..
بجانب المعلومات التاريخية المهمة ، فالكتاب يطور الفكر السياسي للقارئ ، ويعطيه تصورا عاما عن القضايا الحاصلة
وقدرة على التحليل الصحيح وبعد النظر ، ومعرفة الأفكار والتطورات الحاصلة في عالم الجاسوسية والمراقبة والأمن
بجانب المعلومات التاريخية المهمة ، فالكتاب يطور الفكر السياسي للقارئ ، ويعطيه تصورا عاما عن القضايا الحاصلة
وقدرة على التحليل الصحيح وبعد النظر ، ومعرفة الأفكار والتطورات الحاصلة في عالم الجاسوسية والمراقبة والأمن
January 10, 2011
بكل صراحة من افضل الكتب التي قراتها
تاريخ عجيب ولكن يجب علينا الاستفادة منه
النسخة التي قرائتها من طباعة مكتبة الساقي ببغداد وترجمة إبراهيم البغدادي وهي النسخة اﻻولى سنة 2001
وهي بعنوان جواسيس في الرمال ((التاريخ السري للموساد))
تاريخ عجيب ولكن يجب علينا الاستفادة منه
النسخة التي قرائتها من طباعة مكتبة الساقي ببغداد وترجمة إبراهيم البغدادي وهي النسخة اﻻولى سنة 2001
وهي بعنوان جواسيس في الرمال ((التاريخ السري للموساد))
April 9, 2011
It certainly cannot be said about this book that its author, Gordon Thomas, isn’t completely taken with the subject at hand. Writing with a schoolboy’s fascination for the murky parallel world of international espionage, Gideon’s Spies is a book full of smoke-filled rooms, institutional treachery, and ruthless men and women operating in cunning ways that would make the most hardened of criminals take pause. He describes a world where no one can be trusted, where deception is revered as an art form, and where your dance partner not only calls the tunes, but also gets to decide when it’s lights out in the ballroom.
While entertaining to read, Gideon’s Spies is by no means the serious work of history that its subtitle (A Secret History of the Mossad) might imply. Throughout, Thomas’ book suffers from the fact that the line between exactitude and exaggeration is never clear. Some of the adventures he documents, such as the farcical account of how Adolf Eichmann was nabbed off of an Argentinean street, were straightforward and convincing, but many others read like seamless fiction, all the more easily invented decades removed from the actual events. Additionally, there is no shortage of conspiracy theories in the book, from Mossad’s potential involvement in the death of Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed in 1997 to a rogue CIA team’s supposed involvement in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. In both cases, and others, Thomas provides scant evidence that the theories are anything more than the product of vivid imagination. But poor sourcing and unchecked speculation is only part of the frustration that flows from this book.
The numerous stories of both intelligence failures and successes were sometimes difficult to follow, with Thomas preferring to use a continuous series of chronologically chaotic asides to deliver historical context to his readers. While the book does give a good accounting of the scope and range of nearly half a century of Israeli intelligence operations, it glaringly fails to convey the critical connection between the Mossad’s intelligence efforts and Israel’s national security. Instead it is a tale of exploits and mishaps that often appear only marginally related to national security interests and sometimes even counterproductive to Israel’s democratic values. If taken at face value, the extent to which disinformation is used to further political goals is troubling and bodes ill for the idea that a free and independent media can serve as a useful check on state power, whether in Jerusalem, London, or Washington.
The story of media baron and apparent Mossad informer Robert Maxwell provides the most startling example. Despite there being little direct evidence, Thomas weaves a fascinating tale of a media empire financed by fraudulent business practices and wealthy Israeli investors motivated by equal parts profit and patriotism. When Mordechai Vanunu, a Moroccan Jew that had worked in Israel’s nuclear facilities at Dimona from 1977 to 1986, emigrates from Israel and decides to tell the world about its nuclear activities, it is Maxwell that first informs Tel Aviv and then promptly runs a front page article seeking to discredit Vanunu in his London Daily Mirror when it becomes clear that Vanunu had sold his story to a rival London newspaper. Eventually, however, Maxwell and his sordid business dealings would become a public relations liability to Israel, and according to Thomas, it was at that point that Mossad made quick work of him on a Yacht off the coast of the Canary Islands, making his death appear to be a suicide.
In another story of the expendability of the individual for the greater organizational good, Thomas writes about the case of Ismail Sowan, a Palestinian first recruited by the Mossad as a teenager in the West Bank because of his unusually sympathetic views towards Israel. It was Sowan’s desire to go to college that led him to agree to accept Mossad’s offer, but it was the idealistic notion that he would be furthering peace efforts between the two peoples that really excited him. After first working as a diplomatic courier in Europe, Sowan was told to go to Lebanon and join the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). His successful infiltration of the group and eventual assignment at its London headquarters provided Tel Aviv with a valuable source of reportage about the PLO’s illicit activities to promote terror around the world. But when a series of counterfeit blank British passports destined for the Israeli embassy turned up in a phone booth and the murder of a prominent Palestinian political cartoonist went awry, Israel needed a way to shore up its relationship with London. Implicating Sowan in the murder and then leading British authorities to his supposed stash of arms and explosives worked to perfection. Despite Sowan’s protestations that he was working with the very organization that had set him up and handed him over to UK authorities, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
The most troubling aspect of Gideon’s Spies, however, may be Thomas’ account of numerous so-called sayanim, or “volunteer Jewish helpers” in locales around the world. Some of them, he notes, do no more than buy local clothing to be sent to Israel so that Mossad agents will have authentic clothing when working under deep cover. In other instances, however, he notes that some of these volunteers are connected to the U.S. media and instructed to plant stories with false information. His claim that the sayanim represent “the historical cohesiveness of the world Jewish community” and that “regardless of allegiance to his or her country… [these volunteers] recognize a greater loyalty: the mystical one to Israel” (pg. 54), is a reckless one. Such a characterization perpetuates the anti-Semitic myth of Jewish dual-loyalty. Individuals of any nationality may feel strong ties to childhood, ancestral, or cultural homelands, but to suggest that members of the Jewish diaspora play such a prominent role in Israeli intelligence gathering activities risks inciting paranoia and giving credence to a harmful canard.
The value of this book lies in its ability to convey the potential for abuse when public policy is crafted without regard to the role of the public. While the scope for debate on individual actions is necessarily limited, the goals and macro-strategies of intelligence gathering must be the product of robust democratic dialogue and its implementation should never be completely obscured from the public view. Intelligence organizations should never do the bidding of individual politicians, nor should they operate without impunity when laws are broken. Doing so risks creating an extralegal arm of state power and calls into question the very basis of democratic governance. It also provides a poignant reminder that in an open society privacy is the exception to the rule and not the other way around.
© Jeffrey L. Otto, Sept. 28, 2009
While entertaining to read, Gideon’s Spies is by no means the serious work of history that its subtitle (A Secret History of the Mossad) might imply. Throughout, Thomas’ book suffers from the fact that the line between exactitude and exaggeration is never clear. Some of the adventures he documents, such as the farcical account of how Adolf Eichmann was nabbed off of an Argentinean street, were straightforward and convincing, but many others read like seamless fiction, all the more easily invented decades removed from the actual events. Additionally, there is no shortage of conspiracy theories in the book, from Mossad’s potential involvement in the death of Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed in 1997 to a rogue CIA team’s supposed involvement in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. In both cases, and others, Thomas provides scant evidence that the theories are anything more than the product of vivid imagination. But poor sourcing and unchecked speculation is only part of the frustration that flows from this book.
The numerous stories of both intelligence failures and successes were sometimes difficult to follow, with Thomas preferring to use a continuous series of chronologically chaotic asides to deliver historical context to his readers. While the book does give a good accounting of the scope and range of nearly half a century of Israeli intelligence operations, it glaringly fails to convey the critical connection between the Mossad’s intelligence efforts and Israel’s national security. Instead it is a tale of exploits and mishaps that often appear only marginally related to national security interests and sometimes even counterproductive to Israel’s democratic values. If taken at face value, the extent to which disinformation is used to further political goals is troubling and bodes ill for the idea that a free and independent media can serve as a useful check on state power, whether in Jerusalem, London, or Washington.
The story of media baron and apparent Mossad informer Robert Maxwell provides the most startling example. Despite there being little direct evidence, Thomas weaves a fascinating tale of a media empire financed by fraudulent business practices and wealthy Israeli investors motivated by equal parts profit and patriotism. When Mordechai Vanunu, a Moroccan Jew that had worked in Israel’s nuclear facilities at Dimona from 1977 to 1986, emigrates from Israel and decides to tell the world about its nuclear activities, it is Maxwell that first informs Tel Aviv and then promptly runs a front page article seeking to discredit Vanunu in his London Daily Mirror when it becomes clear that Vanunu had sold his story to a rival London newspaper. Eventually, however, Maxwell and his sordid business dealings would become a public relations liability to Israel, and according to Thomas, it was at that point that Mossad made quick work of him on a Yacht off the coast of the Canary Islands, making his death appear to be a suicide.
In another story of the expendability of the individual for the greater organizational good, Thomas writes about the case of Ismail Sowan, a Palestinian first recruited by the Mossad as a teenager in the West Bank because of his unusually sympathetic views towards Israel. It was Sowan’s desire to go to college that led him to agree to accept Mossad’s offer, but it was the idealistic notion that he would be furthering peace efforts between the two peoples that really excited him. After first working as a diplomatic courier in Europe, Sowan was told to go to Lebanon and join the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). His successful infiltration of the group and eventual assignment at its London headquarters provided Tel Aviv with a valuable source of reportage about the PLO’s illicit activities to promote terror around the world. But when a series of counterfeit blank British passports destined for the Israeli embassy turned up in a phone booth and the murder of a prominent Palestinian political cartoonist went awry, Israel needed a way to shore up its relationship with London. Implicating Sowan in the murder and then leading British authorities to his supposed stash of arms and explosives worked to perfection. Despite Sowan’s protestations that he was working with the very organization that had set him up and handed him over to UK authorities, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
The most troubling aspect of Gideon’s Spies, however, may be Thomas’ account of numerous so-called sayanim, or “volunteer Jewish helpers” in locales around the world. Some of them, he notes, do no more than buy local clothing to be sent to Israel so that Mossad agents will have authentic clothing when working under deep cover. In other instances, however, he notes that some of these volunteers are connected to the U.S. media and instructed to plant stories with false information. His claim that the sayanim represent “the historical cohesiveness of the world Jewish community” and that “regardless of allegiance to his or her country… [these volunteers] recognize a greater loyalty: the mystical one to Israel” (pg. 54), is a reckless one. Such a characterization perpetuates the anti-Semitic myth of Jewish dual-loyalty. Individuals of any nationality may feel strong ties to childhood, ancestral, or cultural homelands, but to suggest that members of the Jewish diaspora play such a prominent role in Israeli intelligence gathering activities risks inciting paranoia and giving credence to a harmful canard.
The value of this book lies in its ability to convey the potential for abuse when public policy is crafted without regard to the role of the public. While the scope for debate on individual actions is necessarily limited, the goals and macro-strategies of intelligence gathering must be the product of robust democratic dialogue and its implementation should never be completely obscured from the public view. Intelligence organizations should never do the bidding of individual politicians, nor should they operate without impunity when laws are broken. Doing so risks creating an extralegal arm of state power and calls into question the very basis of democratic governance. It also provides a poignant reminder that in an open society privacy is the exception to the rule and not the other way around.
© Jeffrey L. Otto, Sept. 28, 2009
October 28, 2021
Often a disjointed and repetitive narrative- definitely some interesting and disturbing sections and perhaps my review is biased in that I did not particularly like what I was potentially learning, but other parts/conclusions in my opinion were not well supported and seemed pretty dubious and far-fetched.
July 7, 2012
Where to begin, lets start with the writing, its bad. The author has a tendency to start making a point and then meandering off for two pages before returning to his original point, its hard to believe this guy writes for a living. Lets turn to content, how do you write a CREDIBLE non-fiction book without footnotes? None of the events described in this book are sourced, except for the author's vague assurances that they were based on his extensive interviews. Give me a break! Any first year college student would get an F if he/she submitted a paper sourced like this book is. The book's cause is not helped by the fact that known fabricators such as Arie Ben-Menashe are quoted at length. The fables Ben-Menashe spins are presented as fact in this book, for sure that spells trouble. The most egregious error in this book, though, comes about when the author describes the 1972 take-over of the Israeli embassy in Bangkok. The reader is treated to an account where Israeli leaders agonize over their options thinking back to the Raid on Entebbe as one possible solution that is ultimately disregarded. Of course the raid on Entebbe took place in 1976 FOUR YEARS IN THE FUTURE. The Israelis are good, but time travel, please.
I have a hard time believing that Osama Bin Laden has close relationships with the Chinese given that they are now a secular consumerist society- something which Bin Laden is against. Yet, according to the book, he visited Beijing in 2005?!
The Mossad supposedly knew that a truck bomb was going to be used against the marines in Lebanon, but didn't tell them. The Israeli Prime Minister (Shamir) supposedly gave Pollard's spy material to the Russians because he hated America. The Mossad supposedly didn't lift a finger to save William Buckley, who was tortured and killed in Lebanon. The famous Mr. Maxwell, who looted his employee's pension funds, supposedly gave those funds to the Mossad.
I became suspicious when I saw listed on his acknowledgments page the contact name Barry Chamish. Barry is well known for his "creative" conspiracy theories. And for writing about UFO sightings in Israel.
The author credits the North Koreans with having SSN-6 nuclear submarines. No, they have diesel submarines. They have SSN-6 missiles. Later he credits the Israeli navy of having nuclear submarines---again, wrong. They have diesel submarines built by Germany.
The final straws were when the author writes of an Israeli helicopter that uses "silent mode" to enter enemy territory.I can assure you that is laughable, and I could no longer take the book seriously after that. A few pages later he references Pope Air Force Base in Georgia. A simple internet search would show you that Pope Air Force Base is not located in Georgia, but North Carolina.
Thomas is a conspiracy theorist who relies on innuendo and rumor to justify mindless theories and meaningless concepts, all in lieu of research and facts to tell what is an incredible story on its own. From little things, like referring to the Echelon surveillance system operated by the National Security Agency as monitoring every conversation between every individual virtually anywhere in the world (Echelon monitors electronic conversations, not every possible conversation) to secondhand references to the late William Casey, the then-director of the CIA, as suggesting that Mossad supplied arms to Hezbollah in the early 1980's when Israel invaded Lebanon, Thomas studiously avoids anything approaching professionalism or reasoned analysis.
I have a hard time believing that Osama Bin Laden has close relationships with the Chinese given that they are now a secular consumerist society- something which Bin Laden is against. Yet, according to the book, he visited Beijing in 2005?!
The Mossad supposedly knew that a truck bomb was going to be used against the marines in Lebanon, but didn't tell them. The Israeli Prime Minister (Shamir) supposedly gave Pollard's spy material to the Russians because he hated America. The Mossad supposedly didn't lift a finger to save William Buckley, who was tortured and killed in Lebanon. The famous Mr. Maxwell, who looted his employee's pension funds, supposedly gave those funds to the Mossad.
I became suspicious when I saw listed on his acknowledgments page the contact name Barry Chamish. Barry is well known for his "creative" conspiracy theories. And for writing about UFO sightings in Israel.
The author credits the North Koreans with having SSN-6 nuclear submarines. No, they have diesel submarines. They have SSN-6 missiles. Later he credits the Israeli navy of having nuclear submarines---again, wrong. They have diesel submarines built by Germany.
The final straws were when the author writes of an Israeli helicopter that uses "silent mode" to enter enemy territory.I can assure you that is laughable, and I could no longer take the book seriously after that. A few pages later he references Pope Air Force Base in Georgia. A simple internet search would show you that Pope Air Force Base is not located in Georgia, but North Carolina.
Thomas is a conspiracy theorist who relies on innuendo and rumor to justify mindless theories and meaningless concepts, all in lieu of research and facts to tell what is an incredible story on its own. From little things, like referring to the Echelon surveillance system operated by the National Security Agency as monitoring every conversation between every individual virtually anywhere in the world (Echelon monitors electronic conversations, not every possible conversation) to secondhand references to the late William Casey, the then-director of the CIA, as suggesting that Mossad supplied arms to Hezbollah in the early 1980's when Israel invaded Lebanon, Thomas studiously avoids anything approaching professionalism or reasoned analysis.
November 10, 2023
بإختصار شديد، الكتاب من وجهة نظر صهيونية، الكتاب كبير وكمية مماطلة رهيبة، والكثير من التمويه والغموض المزيف بالنهاية كلنا نعلم أن الموساد لن يكشف على شيء خارج ارادته والمعلومات بالكتاب ليست سرية أبداً وبالطبع لن يتم نشرها بدون موافقة مشروطة من الموساد نفسه وبدون تشكيل أي خطورة عليه وعلى أمنه وأمن معلوماته وعملائه.
بالتالي الكتاب لا يحوي على معلومات خارقة او تقدر أن تقول عليها " يا الهي ما هذا" لم اشعر بذلك وتكرار اعتبار الفلسطيني وعمليات المقاومة انها ارهابية والاقتداء بالدين الاسلامي هو تطرف كلها امور غير جديدة ولم اشعر حتى بالغضب او الحزن، لم اعد أهتم بوجهة نظر العالم الغربي تجاهنا ، إنها آخر ما قد أفكر به.
جوانب قليلة كانت مهمة بنظري، هي وجهة نظر اسرائيل تجاه منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية آنذاك والآن، لم أكن أعلم مقدار الخطر والهاجس من أي حركة تصدر من فتح أو أبو عمار، لم اتوقع أنه في يوم من الايام كان يشكل الخطر الأكبر لإسرائيل والمطلوب الأول لأمريكا، لأنه الصورة الوحيدة التي ببالي منذ أن جئت على هذه الدنيا وحياتي في وجوده هي عبارة عن خمس سنوات يتخللها الكثير من الخيانة والتواطئ واتفاقيات السلام المزعومة التي كانت سبب في شكل حياتي اليوم، لا أريد أن اجعل الموضوع يتمحور حولي ولكن شكل حياتنا الحالي كان سببه هذه الاتفاقيات.
الكثير من المواضيع والمحاور التي لا تهمني بهذا الكتاب، وفقط اعجبت الاجزاء التي تشمل فلسطين لأنها محور اهتمامي الحالي والدائم.
وبالنسبة للترجمة، تكرار جملة (حسب التعبير الاسرائيلي ) أو (من وجهة نظر اسرائيلية) ازعجتني بشدة لأنها جملة بديهية ولا داعي من ذكرها في كل صفحة، وجود النقاط التي لا ادري لما ترمز ولماذا موجودة أصلاً.
بالتالي الكتاب لا يحوي على معلومات خارقة او تقدر أن تقول عليها " يا الهي ما هذا" لم اشعر بذلك وتكرار اعتبار الفلسطيني وعمليات المقاومة انها ارهابية والاقتداء بالدين الاسلامي هو تطرف كلها امور غير جديدة ولم اشعر حتى بالغضب او الحزن، لم اعد أهتم بوجهة نظر العالم الغربي تجاهنا ، إنها آخر ما قد أفكر به.
جوانب قليلة كانت مهمة بنظري، هي وجهة نظر اسرائيل تجاه منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية آنذاك والآن، لم أكن أعلم مقدار الخطر والهاجس من أي حركة تصدر من فتح أو أبو عمار، لم اتوقع أنه في يوم من الايام كان يشكل الخطر الأكبر لإسرائيل والمطلوب الأول لأمريكا، لأنه الصورة الوحيدة التي ببالي منذ أن جئت على هذه الدنيا وحياتي في وجوده هي عبارة عن خمس سنوات يتخللها الكثير من الخيانة والتواطئ واتفاقيات السلام المزعومة التي كانت سبب في شكل حياتي اليوم، لا أريد أن اجعل الموضوع يتمحور حولي ولكن شكل حياتنا الحالي كان سببه هذه الاتفاقيات.
الكثير من المواضيع والمحاور التي لا تهمني بهذا الكتاب، وفقط اعجبت الاجزاء التي تشمل فلسطين لأنها محور اهتمامي الحالي والدائم.
وبالنسبة للترجمة، تكرار جملة (حسب التعبير الاسرائيلي ) أو (من وجهة نظر اسرائيلية) ازعجتني بشدة لأنها جملة بديهية ولا داعي من ذكرها في كل صفحة، وجود النقاط التي لا ادري لما ترمز ولماذا موجودة أصلاً.
March 30, 2012
I can’t trust this book since it mostly draws on former agents, saucy speculations and other sketchy sources. However, the picture it paints of competing national spy networks is truly frightening. If a fraction of these stories are true, we’re living in a world where governments can quietly eliminate or discredit its perceived “enemies” with relative ease—from planted newspaper stories to untraceable poisons—and little accountability. Mossad, apparently, has help in most countries, payroll informants, Zionist patriots and trained agents. Oddly, agents may have been working on the hotel driver who crashed and killed Princess Diana. Mossad was a crucial part of Israel’s success in fighting hostile Arab countries, the PLO and even mild, civilian critics. Most disturbing is Mossad’s offer of help to assassinate ANC activists for the South African security service; with Israel’s collaboration with apartheid South Africa why do we wonder that there is a pervasive anti-Zionism on the left?
October 17, 2020
This is a one of a kind, eye opening, hard hitting account of a uniquely fascinating topic. Like a good Borne movie action scene, it’s a fast and up-close view of the extremely impressive, if not unnerving, skills of highly trained spies.
November 13, 2015
الكتاب شدني لتتبع تفاصيل عمليات تتسم بالسرية ولها علاقة بالمنطقة التي انتمي اليها, خاصة اني كنت مهتما بمعرفة فيما اذا كان هناك علاقة للمخابرات الاسرائيلية باي من المخابرات العربية
توقعت ان اجد معلومات اكثر دقة واكثر تفصيل الا انه يبدو ولان هذا كتاب عن الجاسوسية فالمعلومات التي فيه لا تريد ان تفصح عن كل شئ
طبعا هناك معلومات كثيرة كانت مفاجئة بالنسبة لي لم اكن اعلم بها من قبل
في البداية احب ان اقول ان اسلوب الكتابة لم يكن جيدا بما فيه الكفاية وكان مشوشا احيانا
من ناحية اخرى مهمة واضح تماما انحياز الكاتب لاسرائيل اذانه يشير للعرب دوما بانهم ارهابيين ودائما ما يشير اليهم بانهم مستوى اقل بينما يجعل من الموساد على انه يعرف كل شئ رغم عرضه لبعض العمليات الفاشلة للموساد
وهذا نابع بالدرجة الاولى ان معظم مصادر الكاتب مبينة على شهادات اسرائيليين اوموالين لاسرائيل ومنهم مسؤولين رفيعي المستوى في الموساد
قبل ان انقل بعض من الامور التي وجدتها مفاجئة في الكتاب, اريد ان اقول بان هذا الكتاب اكد يقيني بالعقلية التي يمتلكها الاسرائيليين تجاه العرب وهي عقلية متكبرة رغم انهم يدعون انهم يريدون السلام امام شاشات الاعلام.
من جهة اخرى زادت قناعتي بعد قرائتي لكيف يتم التعامل ضمن الاطر المخابراتية والتعاون بين اجهزة المخابرات في العالم ولا سيما اجهزة المخابرات التي تنتمي لدول متحاربة, زاد يقيني بان داعش اومايسمى اليوم بالدولة الاسلامية هي حتما دعمت من اجهزة مخابرات اقليمية لا استبعد ابدا دورا قويا للمخابرات الايرانية والاسرائيلية فيها.
انتقل الان الى بعض المعلومات التي كانت مفاجئة في هذا الكتاب واريد ان اقول ان هذه المعلومات قدلاتكون صحيحة مية المية لانها بنيت من وجهة نظر اسرائيلية فقط
------------------------------------------------------------
المخابرات الاسرائيلية كانت تملك عميل في كل قاعدة جوية وكل قيادة عسكرية في مصر قبل حرب حزيران 1967
------------------------------------------------------------
المخابرات الاسرائيلية لها شبكات عملاء في اوروبا وامريكا بهدف سرقة التكنولوجيا العلمية من هذه الدول وقد خلق اكتشاف جزء من هذه الشبكات من قبل دول اوروبا وامريكا توترا في العلاقات مع اوروبا وامريكا
------------------------------------------------------------------
اختلقت وسائل اعلام لها علاقة بالموساد قصص ملفقة لالصاق التهم بدول عربية وايران بقضايا ذات صلة بالارهاب لزعزعة العلاقة بين الغرب والدول العربية وكان من اهما قصة محاولة تقجير طائرة العال الاسرائيلية التي دبرها الموساد نفسه والصق التهمة بسوريا وقد ادت هذه الحادثة الى قطع العلاقات الدبلوماسية بين بريطانيا وسوريا وطرد الدبلوماسييين السوريين من لندن
---------------------------------------------------------------
هناك خيانة عربية واضحةمن افراد عرب في التعامل مع الموساد ضد بلادهم واهمها قضية سرقة الطائرة العراقية المطورةمن طيار عراقي وتسليمها لاسرائيل مما ادى لضياع اسرار عسكرية عراقية
--------------------------------------------------------------
حتى في المخابرات يتم ادخال الدين في تقييم الاشخاص فمثلا بن غوريون كان يعتقد ان وجود رئيس مسيحي كاثوليكي في البيت الابيض هو جون كنيدي هو نذير سوء لاسرائيل وهناك ايضا عدد من الامثلة الاخرى
-----------------------------------------------------------
ان اللوبي الاسرائيلي وهو فعلا موجود كما هو واضح في الكتاب قد ساهم في دعم حملة جون كنيدي في الوصول الى سدة الرئاسة في امريكا وقد استغل هذا الدعم في جلب دعم كينيدي لمصالح اسرائيل, مثلا في التساهل مع تطوير اسرائيل لسلاحها النووي
-------------------------------------------------------------
وجد هناك تعاون بين المخابرات المغربية والموساد للتخلص من المهدي بن بركة الذي كان يعارض ملك المغرب في ذلك الوقت
------------------------------------------------------------
يؤكد الكتاب دعم اسرائيل القوي للكتائب المسيحية خلال حرب لبنان الاهلية
-------------------------------------------------------------
خلال الحرب العراقية الايرانية, قامت اسرائيل وبفعالية بمد ايران بالسلاح وبشكل موثق بهدف تكبيد العرق مزيد من الضرر, وفي نفس الوقت كانت تدعم المتمردين الاكراد لشن هجمات ضد نظام الخميني في ايران
---------------------------------------------------------------
كان الموساد يطلق على عملائه من العرب لفظ العميل الاسود والعملاء البيض على العملاء من غير العرب
توقعت ان اجد معلومات اكثر دقة واكثر تفصيل الا انه يبدو ولان هذا كتاب عن الجاسوسية فالمعلومات التي فيه لا تريد ان تفصح عن كل شئ
طبعا هناك معلومات كثيرة كانت مفاجئة بالنسبة لي لم اكن اعلم بها من قبل
في البداية احب ان اقول ان اسلوب الكتابة لم يكن جيدا بما فيه الكفاية وكان مشوشا احيانا
من ناحية اخرى مهمة واضح تماما انحياز الكاتب لاسرائيل اذانه يشير للعرب دوما بانهم ارهابيين ودائما ما يشير اليهم بانهم مستوى اقل بينما يجعل من الموساد على انه يعرف كل شئ رغم عرضه لبعض العمليات الفاشلة للموساد
وهذا نابع بالدرجة الاولى ان معظم مصادر الكاتب مبينة على شهادات اسرائيليين اوموالين لاسرائيل ومنهم مسؤولين رفيعي المستوى في الموساد
قبل ان انقل بعض من الامور التي وجدتها مفاجئة في الكتاب, اريد ان اقول بان هذا الكتاب اكد يقيني بالعقلية التي يمتلكها الاسرائيليين تجاه العرب وهي عقلية متكبرة رغم انهم يدعون انهم يريدون السلام امام شاشات الاعلام.
من جهة اخرى زادت قناعتي بعد قرائتي لكيف يتم التعامل ضمن الاطر المخابراتية والتعاون بين اجهزة المخابرات في العالم ولا سيما اجهزة المخابرات التي تنتمي لدول متحاربة, زاد يقيني بان داعش اومايسمى اليوم بالدولة الاسلامية هي حتما دعمت من اجهزة مخابرات اقليمية لا استبعد ابدا دورا قويا للمخابرات الايرانية والاسرائيلية فيها.
انتقل الان الى بعض المعلومات التي كانت مفاجئة في هذا الكتاب واريد ان اقول ان هذه المعلومات قدلاتكون صحيحة مية المية لانها بنيت من وجهة نظر اسرائيلية فقط
------------------------------------------------------------
المخابرات الاسرائيلية كانت تملك عميل في كل قاعدة جوية وكل قيادة عسكرية في مصر قبل حرب حزيران 1967
------------------------------------------------------------
المخابرات الاسرائيلية لها شبكات عملاء في اوروبا وامريكا بهدف سرقة التكنولوجيا العلمية من هذه الدول وقد خلق اكتشاف جزء من هذه الشبكات من قبل دول اوروبا وامريكا توترا في العلاقات مع اوروبا وامريكا
------------------------------------------------------------------
اختلقت وسائل اعلام لها علاقة بالموساد قصص ملفقة لالصاق التهم بدول عربية وايران بقضايا ذات صلة بالارهاب لزعزعة العلاقة بين الغرب والدول العربية وكان من اهما قصة محاولة تقجير طائرة العال الاسرائيلية التي دبرها الموساد نفسه والصق التهمة بسوريا وقد ادت هذه الحادثة الى قطع العلاقات الدبلوماسية بين بريطانيا وسوريا وطرد الدبلوماسييين السوريين من لندن
---------------------------------------------------------------
هناك خيانة عربية واضحةمن افراد عرب في التعامل مع الموساد ضد بلادهم واهمها قضية سرقة الطائرة العراقية المطورةمن طيار عراقي وتسليمها لاسرائيل مما ادى لضياع اسرار عسكرية عراقية
--------------------------------------------------------------
حتى في المخابرات يتم ادخال الدين في تقييم الاشخاص فمثلا بن غوريون كان يعتقد ان وجود رئيس مسيحي كاثوليكي في البيت الابيض هو جون كنيدي هو نذير سوء لاسرائيل وهناك ايضا عدد من الامثلة الاخرى
-----------------------------------------------------------
ان اللوبي الاسرائيلي وهو فعلا موجود كما هو واضح في الكتاب قد ساهم في دعم حملة جون كنيدي في الوصول الى سدة الرئاسة في امريكا وقد استغل هذا الدعم في جلب دعم كينيدي لمصالح اسرائيل, مثلا في التساهل مع تطوير اسرائيل لسلاحها النووي
-------------------------------------------------------------
وجد هناك تعاون بين المخابرات المغربية والموساد للتخلص من المهدي بن بركة الذي كان يعارض ملك المغرب في ذلك الوقت
------------------------------------------------------------
يؤكد الكتاب دعم اسرائيل القوي للكتائب المسيحية خلال حرب لبنان الاهلية
-------------------------------------------------------------
خلال الحرب العراقية الايرانية, قامت اسرائيل وبفعالية بمد ايران بالسلاح وبشكل موثق بهدف تكبيد العرق مزيد من الضرر, وفي نفس الوقت كانت تدعم المتمردين الاكراد لشن هجمات ضد نظام الخميني في ايران
---------------------------------------------------------------
كان الموساد يطلق على عملائه من العرب لفظ العميل الاسود والعملاء البيض على العملاء من غير العرب
January 9, 2020
I posses a stubborn aspect to my reading habit, in that I have an extreme dislike to not finishing any book that I pick up. Gordon Thomas' 'Gideon's Spies', a rather large tome weighing in at around six hundred pages was a test of my resolve.
A secret history of Israel's Mossad, my updated edition was published in 2007, from its original copyright date of 1995. From the outset I hit on a subject of which I am quite well informed, namely the death of Princess Diana. So, the utter rhubarb that I found in print in various sections of the text concerning various aspects of this assassination did not fill me with confidence, or encouragement to slog through the remaining pages. (Mr Thomas:-Mossad agents were NOT involved in Paris and were NOT driving any white Fiat Uno. The intelligence asset behind the wheel of the white Fiat Uno was NOT James Anderson, but one James Andanton a Frenchman who WAS in Paris that night.)
After such a sloppy beginning, I did persevere. However, my overall impression of 'Gideon's Spies' is of a large volume that could be edited down somewhat and presented in a more chronological order. I am also not convinced that some of the topics covered are not the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, perhaps for fear of greatly upsetting other national covert organisations.
A secret history of Israel's Mossad, my updated edition was published in 2007, from its original copyright date of 1995. From the outset I hit on a subject of which I am quite well informed, namely the death of Princess Diana. So, the utter rhubarb that I found in print in various sections of the text concerning various aspects of this assassination did not fill me with confidence, or encouragement to slog through the remaining pages. (Mr Thomas:-Mossad agents were NOT involved in Paris and were NOT driving any white Fiat Uno. The intelligence asset behind the wheel of the white Fiat Uno was NOT James Anderson, but one James Andanton a Frenchman who WAS in Paris that night.)
After such a sloppy beginning, I did persevere. However, my overall impression of 'Gideon's Spies' is of a large volume that could be edited down somewhat and presented in a more chronological order. I am also not convinced that some of the topics covered are not the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, perhaps for fear of greatly upsetting other national covert organisations.
June 13, 2018
لكل شخص معاييره في تقييم أي كتاب، فمنهم من ينظر للفائدة ومنهم من ينظر للمتعة ومنهم من يجمع بينهما ومنهم من يضيف عليهما، ومع ذلك ففي أي معيار أختاره لا أجد هذا الكتاب يستحق أكثر من نجمة واحدة (وهي أقل الموجود للأسف!).
كان الكتاب توصية من الدكتور عبدالله النفيسي في إحدى محاضراته، فاشتريته معمى العينين، ولا أخفيكم أن العنوان كان له أثر في العمى.
نعود للكتاب نفسه:
الكتاب من المفترض أن يكون تاريخًا للموساد، والتاريخ يمكن أن يُكتب بطرق كثيرة، ليست طريقة القصص المتفرقة أحدَها.
قصص في ٢٦ فصلًا لا تسير مرتبة على زمان ولا على غيره، تنتقل من قصة إلى أخرى لا علاقة لها بالأولى! هل بهذه الطريقة يمكن أن نقرأ تاريخًا!
حتى ولو أردت منه إمتاعًا فلا سبيل لك إلى ذلك، حيث إن الفصل يبدأ بقصة وينتهي بغيرها ولا تعلم كيف حدث ذلك! بل ولا تعلم تتمة القصة الأولى أصلًا!
الترجمة:
الترجمة زادت الكتاب سوءًا على سوء، بل إني أقول لنفسي بعض الأحيان إن سوء الكتاب إنما هو من سوء الترجمة التي هي أقرب إلى لغة أعجمية منها إلى العربية. هذا غير النقاط الثلاثة التي تشاهدها كثيرًا في ثنايا هذا الكتاب! لماذا تترجم كتابًا إذا كنت تخفي بعضه!
لم أجلس على كتاب واحد زمنًا مثل ما جلست على هذا الكتاب، احتجت لأكثر من سنة حتى أتمه! ولقد هممت مرات عديدة أن أترك الكتاب إلى الأبد لولا مقولة نقلها الدكتور محمد الأحمري في كتابه مذكرات قارئ حيث قال فيما معناه إنك تكاد لا تجد غربيًا لا يتم الكتاب الذي بدأه، فقلت حينها: هذه منقبة لا ينبغي أن تكون للغربيين وحدهم.
لا يسعنى أن أقول الآن إلا: الحمد لله، على انتهائي من هذا العفن.
كان الكتاب توصية من الدكتور عبدالله النفيسي في إحدى محاضراته، فاشتريته معمى العينين، ولا أخفيكم أن العنوان كان له أثر في العمى.
نعود للكتاب نفسه:
الكتاب من المفترض أن يكون تاريخًا للموساد، والتاريخ يمكن أن يُكتب بطرق كثيرة، ليست طريقة القصص المتفرقة أحدَها.
قصص في ٢٦ فصلًا لا تسير مرتبة على زمان ولا على غيره، تنتقل من قصة إلى أخرى لا علاقة لها بالأولى! هل بهذه الطريقة يمكن أن نقرأ تاريخًا!
حتى ولو أردت منه إمتاعًا فلا سبيل لك إلى ذلك، حيث إن الفصل يبدأ بقصة وينتهي بغيرها ولا تعلم كيف حدث ذلك! بل ولا تعلم تتمة القصة الأولى أصلًا!
الترجمة:
الترجمة زادت الكتاب سوءًا على سوء، بل إني أقول لنفسي بعض الأحيان إن سوء الكتاب إنما هو من سوء الترجمة التي هي أقرب إلى لغة أعجمية منها إلى العربية. هذا غير النقاط الثلاثة التي تشاهدها كثيرًا في ثنايا هذا الكتاب! لماذا تترجم كتابًا إذا كنت تخفي بعضه!
لم أجلس على كتاب واحد زمنًا مثل ما جلست على هذا الكتاب، احتجت لأكثر من سنة حتى أتمه! ولقد هممت مرات عديدة أن أترك الكتاب إلى الأبد لولا مقولة نقلها الدكتور محمد الأحمري في كتابه مذكرات قارئ حيث قال فيما معناه إنك تكاد لا تجد غربيًا لا يتم الكتاب الذي بدأه، فقلت حينها: هذه منقبة لا ينبغي أن تكون للغربيين وحدهم.
لا يسعنى أن أقول الآن إلا: الحمد لله، على انتهائي من هذا العفن.
March 29, 2013
The subject matter of this book is intriguing and a piercing insight into how nations interact with each other on multiple levels. Mossad's methods and philosophy of defending Israel at all costs and by all means necessary are clearly exposed here. Strangely the first chapter's discussion of the death of Princess Diana, linked to Mossad because of the commercial interests she threatened, is a little out of place given that the rest of the book focuses entirely on Mossad's role in defending Israel militarily. There is no doubt however that Mossad is very involved in commercial theft.
The book is overly long and will appeal mostly to those who already have a significant interest in its workings. It's also unclear why many would have cooperated in its writing, why certain details revealed within would not have led the agency to attempt to quash the book, nor whether everything contained therein is true. Perhaps the book or some details in it are part of the Mossad Unit of Psychological Warfare's effort to sow the seeds of confusion.
In any case, a revealing book in many ways and on balance worth the read.
The book is overly long and will appeal mostly to those who already have a significant interest in its workings. It's also unclear why many would have cooperated in its writing, why certain details revealed within would not have led the agency to attempt to quash the book, nor whether everything contained therein is true. Perhaps the book or some details in it are part of the Mossad Unit of Psychological Warfare's effort to sow the seeds of confusion.
In any case, a revealing book in many ways and on balance worth the read.
August 13, 2008
Buku asik, cerita tentang Mossad yang bisa dibilang sebagai kelanjutan dari buku Mossad: Menguak Tabir Dinas Intelijen Israel.
Sejak bab 1 kita sudah diajak untuk mengetahui lebih banyak tentang peristiwa kematian Lady Diana. Bagaimana ketidakpuasan Mohammad Al-Fayed atas kesan ditutup-tutupinya peristiwa ini, serta dugaan sang ayah akan keterlibatan dinas-dinas rahasia internasional.
Ada juga cerita tentang peristiwa percobaan pembunuhan Paus Yohannes Paulus II oleh Mehmet Ali Agca pada 1981, konon yang memberitahu siapa sebenarnya dalang peristiwa ini adalah Mossad, bukan CIA.
Masih banyak lagi kisah-kisah seru lainnya dalam buku ini.
Sejak bab 1 kita sudah diajak untuk mengetahui lebih banyak tentang peristiwa kematian Lady Diana. Bagaimana ketidakpuasan Mohammad Al-Fayed atas kesan ditutup-tutupinya peristiwa ini, serta dugaan sang ayah akan keterlibatan dinas-dinas rahasia internasional.
Ada juga cerita tentang peristiwa percobaan pembunuhan Paus Yohannes Paulus II oleh Mehmet Ali Agca pada 1981, konon yang memberitahu siapa sebenarnya dalang peristiwa ini adalah Mossad, bukan CIA.
Masih banyak lagi kisah-kisah seru lainnya dalam buku ini.
July 25, 2009
Self serving
March 2, 2011
كنت ابحث عن شي يشفي الغليل عن الموساد فكان هو .، انصح به
March 14, 2021
Is there anyone they won’t kill? That thought kept coming back to me as I read “Gideon’s Spies: The Secret History of Mossad”, by Gordon Thomas. The list of people the Israelis have assassinated is long. Sure, most of them were terrorists or assassins themselves but all of them? Don’t know. Nor was rarely any due process or trial provided. Mossad acted as police, judge, jury, and executioner. Maybe this hints how difficult it is being a Jewish state in the midst of Arabia.
Lots of claims made in the book for which one cannot easily validate. The book begins with claims of a connection between Mossad and the driver in of the car that crashed and killed Princess Diana. Gordon Thomas alludes to that connection playing a role in the high speeds prior to the crash. True, how would I possibly know.
All countries spy – even on their friends. And all have wet operations too. None are “clean”. But the Israeli’s are efficient. Very efficient. And the death toll rises. I didn’t need to read all of these and think a more succinct book with fewer examples would read better. Especially if the examples delved deeper into the reasons and needs of the operation. I felt the book just went on and on never really running out of missions.
Its written sort of chronologically but not entirely.
Hard reading if you don’t know much about Israel, its leaders, or the world events for which Mossad acted. There were a lot of names I didn’t recognize and my time line of Israeli leadership failed me. But in those I remember it connected the disconnected dots of their history.
I grew up thinking that Israel’s dogfights were a great testing ground for American fighter jet s as US built F-15s and F-16s took on Russian Migs operated by Syria or Egypt. It allowed Russia and the US to learn, evolve, and develop better weapons without an all-out war between the two superpowers. Alright, maybe not completely relevant to this book but it supports Israel’s willingness to act early and often.
Interesting reading to see inside an intelligence agency and its operations. How they finance their operations. How they approve them. And for those events you recognize it provides interesting background. But it is a long read that becomes repetitious as one killing leads to the next and the next…
Not the worst rated 2 star book but if the author hadn't added length during his update but rather tighten it up (a lot), removed irrelevant fluff, and explained why Israel had to act on the events described it would read much, much better.
Lots of claims made in the book for which one cannot easily validate. The book begins with claims of a connection between Mossad and the driver in of the car that crashed and killed Princess Diana. Gordon Thomas alludes to that connection playing a role in the high speeds prior to the crash. True, how would I possibly know.
All countries spy – even on their friends. And all have wet operations too. None are “clean”. But the Israeli’s are efficient. Very efficient. And the death toll rises. I didn’t need to read all of these and think a more succinct book with fewer examples would read better. Especially if the examples delved deeper into the reasons and needs of the operation. I felt the book just went on and on never really running out of missions.
Its written sort of chronologically but not entirely.
Hard reading if you don’t know much about Israel, its leaders, or the world events for which Mossad acted. There were a lot of names I didn’t recognize and my time line of Israeli leadership failed me. But in those I remember it connected the disconnected dots of their history.
I grew up thinking that Israel’s dogfights were a great testing ground for American fighter jet s as US built F-15s and F-16s took on Russian Migs operated by Syria or Egypt. It allowed Russia and the US to learn, evolve, and develop better weapons without an all-out war between the two superpowers. Alright, maybe not completely relevant to this book but it supports Israel’s willingness to act early and often.
Interesting reading to see inside an intelligence agency and its operations. How they finance their operations. How they approve them. And for those events you recognize it provides interesting background. But it is a long read that becomes repetitious as one killing leads to the next and the next…
Not the worst rated 2 star book but if the author hadn't added length during his update but rather tighten it up (a lot), removed irrelevant fluff, and explained why Israel had to act on the events described it would read much, much better.
July 12, 2015
This is less a review than a justification for quitting on page 107 of a slapdash, lazy, and irresponsible 677 page book. Those expecting a measured, evenhanded, thorough, and thus fair approach should try Goodreader Joey's or Jeffrey Otto's reviews. Mine will just be a hatchet job.
Let me give the author of such nonfiction classics (I assume) as Descent Into Danger, They Got Back, and Magdalene: The Woman Who Loved Jesus (among others), to say nothing of the fictional Camp on Blood Island and Organ Hunters (among others) his due for having written such a glib page-turner. Here readers will find unattributed, unsourced, and achronologous anecdotes aplenty, sensationalist speculation and conspiracy theories abounding. But a history? Not so much.
Well, okay. To be fair, pages 31-42 purport to give an historical overview of Mossad's origins, ca. 1929-1963 or thereabouts. I have to say, though, this constitutes an extremely superficial overview of what I had expected Thomas would spend his pages to describe in detail. Actors are aggregated, their collectivized actions arrogated to be "brutal," "ruthless," and "deadly." Little of it is specific. None of it is sourced.
By way of contrast, I've just picked up a nonfiction book called In Search of Time by Dan Falk (no relation) that's only a little over 300 pages long. I'm only 2 pages in, so can't yet comment on the substance. But I'll tell you this. Not only does this diminutive work include a far more substantial bibliography than Gideon's Spies, it contains 20 pages of endnotes that carefully substantiate and source every assertion, quote, argument, and observation. Agree or disagree, we know where Falk got his information.
Spies has been updated 9 times through my 2009 edition, in the process expanded to twice its original length, and while it contains an outstanding, name-dropping index, a one-page list of acknowledgements (a partial list of names of people who "in their own way played their part" in the book), and a "selected bibliography," there are exactly zero attributions. Even his internal quotes are subject to question, most of them pulled from undocumented conversations (when? where?) with the author and others. In a typical example (pp. 27-29), Thomas presents as a verbatim passage a 1986 interview with then-CIA director William Casey, which was conducted under the conditions that it be used only for background, could not be recorded in any way, and that note-taking was prohibited. Taken at face value, the transcription here would thus indicate not only an outrageous violation of journalistic ethics, but a remarkable feat of memory. Or maybe the author just made it up. Who can tell?
He starts well. "When the red light blinked on the bedside telephone, a sophisticated recording device was automatically activated in the Paris apartment near the Pompidou Center in the lively Fourth Arrondissement." This is a fine first sentence for any opening paragraph, one which I perceive to be Thomas' hook. In this context, I imagine Thomas putting forward a Le Carre-like or Ludlumesque description of representative (if mundane) fieldwork, which he will presumably move from into a sober and less sensationalist chronological (or at least coherent) retelling of the founding, development, influence, and practice of the Israeli intelligence agency, their triumphs, failures, and current roles and responsibilities as part of both current Israeli policy and the global intelligence community. Alas, not so. The author assaults his own credibility immediately, first as a writer: I can't tell you how perplexed I was to find a parenthetical citation to Chapter 8 on page four. For goodness' sake, you're the author, man! If it's germane, move it forward; if not, put it in the index.
Then the hammer blow on page 11: "What part had [the Mossad] played in the accident [that killed Princess Diana]? ...To this day [2009] Mossad's involvement with Henri Paul has remained a well-kept secret -- the way the service had always intended it should remain." By page 13, I'm questioning his bona fides as an historian, swamped in gossipy speculation about the death of Princess Di, which he'll carry on for another fifteen pages.
My rising gorge is accelerated by vague, hot-stove style narrative jumps from 1997 to 1999 and thereabouts. The blitzkrieg summation of Mossad's early years banks directly into a tale of the theft of an Iraqi MiG. How much of this is true, how much cinematic fantasy, I have no idea, nor but inklings of its underlying significance. Following his whirlwind tour of Mossad's founding come an unending series of unconnected anecdotes of uncertain reliability fervidly strung together without theme, synthesis, or even strict chronological narrative.
The whopper I can no longer swallow, the point at which I throw up these pages in disgust arrives at pp. 104-106. Evincing full-blown paranoia, Thomas insinuates Mossad involvement in the Monica Lewinsky scandal on the bizarre reasoning that an unequivocal denial is sufficient to validate an unsupported assertion. Claim anything you like, folks: all crazy allegations must be true if others refute them! Unlike the author, you needn't take my word for it. I've given you the pagination. Here's the shite shot straight from the source.
His book is not remotely worth your time.
Let me give the author of such nonfiction classics (I assume) as Descent Into Danger, They Got Back, and Magdalene: The Woman Who Loved Jesus (among others), to say nothing of the fictional Camp on Blood Island and Organ Hunters (among others) his due for having written such a glib page-turner. Here readers will find unattributed, unsourced, and achronologous anecdotes aplenty, sensationalist speculation and conspiracy theories abounding. But a history? Not so much.
Well, okay. To be fair, pages 31-42 purport to give an historical overview of Mossad's origins, ca. 1929-1963 or thereabouts. I have to say, though, this constitutes an extremely superficial overview of what I had expected Thomas would spend his pages to describe in detail. Actors are aggregated, their collectivized actions arrogated to be "brutal," "ruthless," and "deadly." Little of it is specific. None of it is sourced.
By way of contrast, I've just picked up a nonfiction book called In Search of Time by Dan Falk (no relation) that's only a little over 300 pages long. I'm only 2 pages in, so can't yet comment on the substance. But I'll tell you this. Not only does this diminutive work include a far more substantial bibliography than Gideon's Spies, it contains 20 pages of endnotes that carefully substantiate and source every assertion, quote, argument, and observation. Agree or disagree, we know where Falk got his information.
Spies has been updated 9 times through my 2009 edition, in the process expanded to twice its original length, and while it contains an outstanding, name-dropping index, a one-page list of acknowledgements (a partial list of names of people who "in their own way played their part" in the book), and a "selected bibliography," there are exactly zero attributions. Even his internal quotes are subject to question, most of them pulled from undocumented conversations (when? where?) with the author and others. In a typical example (pp. 27-29), Thomas presents as a verbatim passage a 1986 interview with then-CIA director William Casey, which was conducted under the conditions that it be used only for background, could not be recorded in any way, and that note-taking was prohibited. Taken at face value, the transcription here would thus indicate not only an outrageous violation of journalistic ethics, but a remarkable feat of memory. Or maybe the author just made it up. Who can tell?
He starts well. "When the red light blinked on the bedside telephone, a sophisticated recording device was automatically activated in the Paris apartment near the Pompidou Center in the lively Fourth Arrondissement." This is a fine first sentence for any opening paragraph, one which I perceive to be Thomas' hook. In this context, I imagine Thomas putting forward a Le Carre-like or Ludlumesque description of representative (if mundane) fieldwork, which he will presumably move from into a sober and less sensationalist chronological (or at least coherent) retelling of the founding, development, influence, and practice of the Israeli intelligence agency, their triumphs, failures, and current roles and responsibilities as part of both current Israeli policy and the global intelligence community. Alas, not so. The author assaults his own credibility immediately, first as a writer: I can't tell you how perplexed I was to find a parenthetical citation to Chapter 8 on page four. For goodness' sake, you're the author, man! If it's germane, move it forward; if not, put it in the index.
Then the hammer blow on page 11: "What part had [the Mossad] played in the accident [that killed Princess Diana]? ...To this day [2009] Mossad's involvement with Henri Paul has remained a well-kept secret -- the way the service had always intended it should remain." By page 13, I'm questioning his bona fides as an historian, swamped in gossipy speculation about the death of Princess Di, which he'll carry on for another fifteen pages.
My rising gorge is accelerated by vague, hot-stove style narrative jumps from 1997 to 1999 and thereabouts. The blitzkrieg summation of Mossad's early years banks directly into a tale of the theft of an Iraqi MiG. How much of this is true, how much cinematic fantasy, I have no idea, nor but inklings of its underlying significance. Following his whirlwind tour of Mossad's founding come an unending series of unconnected anecdotes of uncertain reliability fervidly strung together without theme, synthesis, or even strict chronological narrative.
The whopper I can no longer swallow, the point at which I throw up these pages in disgust arrives at pp. 104-106. Evincing full-blown paranoia, Thomas insinuates Mossad involvement in the Monica Lewinsky scandal on the bizarre reasoning that an unequivocal denial is sufficient to validate an unsupported assertion. Claim anything you like, folks: all crazy allegations must be true if others refute them! Unlike the author, you needn't take my word for it. I've given you the pagination. Here's the shite shot straight from the source.
[P]ublic prosecutor Kenneth Starr had not fully pursued his impeachment investigation into [sitting President Bill] Clinton…. The president's words most strongly indicated he was aware that he had become a potential target for blackmail…. A sense of the panic my revelations created in the White House can be seen from its briefing to correspondents…Well, quel surprise. Assuming any of this transcript to be legitimate, I'm going to go out on a limb of speculation of my own and suggest that the galling lack of follow-through actually represents responsible journalism, the hallmark of any serious newspaper. I am not at all surprised that Gordon Thomas would fail to recognize this.
Q: Was there any attempt by the president to intervene in any kind of investigation or search for a mole?
LEAVY: No. There is no basis in that allegation whatsoever.
… Not one serious newspaper made any attempt to follow up those revealing responses."
His book is not remotely worth your time.
September 10, 2017
What I like about the book is a non Mossad agent compiling stories from his various interviews with various folks to compile a multiple POV and reporting of the various missions Mossad has undertaken from an operational standpoint versus complete first person narratives that tend to be colored with personal glory. The interlinking of international spy agencies and governments and non state actors is an interesting mix the author brings up stating stories from the across world. A book worthy for those who have an academic interest in Mossad and its organisational setup and reach over the years under different leadership and situations. If you are looking for a spy thriller, Ian Fleming is a better shot.
December 11, 2020
المعرفة قوة تلخص هذه الكلمتان الاساس الدي قامت عليه الاستخبارات الانسانية منذ الازل ان تعرف عدوك ان تعرف عنه كل شيء كيف يفكر كيف يخطط قوته العسكرية بل حتى متى ينام و متى يأكل من هنا انطلق الموساد منذ ضهور سنة 1951 انشأ الموساد بهدف حماية اسرائيل و امنها الخارجي و الداخلي و الكتاب رحلة في. اقبسة المخابرات الاسرائيلة كيف انشأ الجهاز كيف يخطط كيف يتدرب عملاءه كيف يجند كيف يصرف ملايير الدولارات من اجل امن اسرائيل و لاعجب اليوم ان الموساد يعد من اقوى اجهزة الاستخبارات العالمية و يضرب له الحساب هناك الكتير من التفاصيل السرية التي اوردها الكتاب و مسؤولية الموساد عن جملة من الاغتيالات السياسية لنشطاء فلسطينين و عرب و كيف تمكنت وحدات كيدون من ترصدهم حول العالم و اغتيالهم
Displaying 1 - 30 of 295 reviews