Saturday, August 17, 2019

Book Review: "Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service"

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My friends gifted the book to me on my farewell at CTAE. It was my first attempt to read a book on spy fiction, hence, my review may look like a naive one!
It feels like you are reading a script of 'James Bond' or 'Mission Impossible' type movie. Although every country has its own secret agencies and they all do such type of mission, Mossad is more special because to survive in the location where you are surrounded with enemies (powerful) from all side is require you to be alert all the time. Mossad did it so many times in past decades. After reading this book, my respect for Mossad and Israel has increased drastically. Iran nuclear program to hijacking Iraq fighter jet, bringing Eichmenn to Israel to killing many enemies in their own countries, Mossad did many great missions. It is must read book for all the espionage lover. Here are some of my favorite lines from the book:
  • In the fall of 1987, a secret meeting was held in Dubai. Eight men met in a small dusty office: three Iranians, two Pakistanis, and three European experts (two of them Germans) who are working for Iran. The representatives of Iran and Pakistan signed a confidential agreement. a large sum of money was transferred to the Pakistanis, or-more precisely to Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the head of Pakistan's official nuclear weapons program.
  • Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan had stolen the centrifuge's blueprints from Eurenco, European company where he worked in the early 1970s, and then started manufacturing his own in Pakistan. Khan soon turned into a "merchant of death", selling his methods, formulas, and centrifuges. Iran became his major client. Libya and North Korea were also clients.
  • On February 4, 2004, a tearful Dr. Khan appeared on Pakistani TV and confessed that he indeed had sold know-how, expertise, and centrifuges to Libya, North Korea, and Iran, making millions in the process. The Pakistani government hastened to grant full pardon to "Dr. Death", the father of their nuclear bomb.
  • Last words of Adolf Eichmann, spoken in the Nazi tradition: "We'll meet again... I have lived, believing in God... I obeyed the laws of war and was a loyal to my flag..."
  • The wind and the waves dispersed the remains of the man who twenty years earlier had merrily declared: "I'll jump laughing into the grave, happy at having exterminated six millions Jews."
  • My dear Nadia, my dear family, I am writing to you these last words, hoping that you'll remain united forever. I ask my wife to forgive me, to take care of herself and give a good education to our children... My dearest Nadia, you may remarry, so that our children will have a father. You are absolutely free in that respect. I ask you not to mourn the past but turn to the future. I am sending you my last kisses. Please prey for my soul. Yours, Elie.
  • Their overconfidence, and the exaggerated demands of their handlers, led them to their deaths.
  • Herbert Cukurs was accused, notably his personal responsibility in the murder of thirty thousand men, women, and children, and considering the terrible cruelty shown by him in carrying our his crimes. The accused was executed on February 23, 1965, by 'those who will never forget'.
  • Black September, they said, intended to launch an all-out war against Israel. The only way to stop it was to kill all its leaders, one after the other. Crush the snake's head.
  • I am a man of peace, a hundred percent. My father lived in times of war and paid for that with his life. Now a new era has begun. I hope that peace between Israel and Palestinians will be the most important event in the life of those two peoples.
  • He had been deeply disappointed by Egypt's defeat in the 1967 six-day war, and had decided to join the winner. But beside that "ideological" motives, Marwan asked for lots of money: $100,000 for every meeting in which he would deliver a report to his handlers.
  • "Comb" a method developed by veteran Mossad agent Zvi Malkin to follow the suspect. Besides following their "mark", the agents combed the areas that he might visit, and were in place even before he arrived.
  • Shaqaqi himself was considered by the Palestinian diaspora to be the ideological father of suicide terrorism. He was the first to find in Islam's holy teaching a legitimization for suicide bombing and killings.
  • A bullet in the head or a missile fired at the car is more humane than poison? It would have been better, of course if there was no need to kill people, but in war against terror this is unavoidable.
  • Shoval drone can fly four thousand kilometers without refueling and carry a load of a ton. The Israeli drones, some of the best in the world, carry out intelligence and attack missions all over the Middle East.
  • The Ethiopian Jews paid a heavy price for their dream to enter the gates of Jerusalem. More than four thousand Jews died during the various stages of their journey.
  • If someone comes to kill you - rise up and kill him first.










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