Every Spy a Prince: The Complete History of Israel's Intelligence Community

"This book appeared in slightly different form in England under the title The imperfect spies, copyright 1989"--T.p. verso.

The Israeli secret service's exalted reputation declined in 1973 with Mossad's failure to foresee the Yom Kippur War, setting off bitter and demoralizing feuds among the country's intelligence agencies, such as Shin Bet and Aman, and was further complicated by a succession of scandals in the 1980s that included the Jonathan Pollard and Mordechai Vananu arrests. Basing their work on interviews with former operatives and on declassified documents, CBS news correspondent Raviv and Israeli journalist Melman here produce a revealing critical history of the rise and decline of Israel's vaunted security and intelligence arm, from the idealistic pioneering days to the current disarray in the face of the Palestinian intifada and the shocking vulnerability of the intelligence community to material corruption. In today's Israel, claim the authors of this controversial book, "making money has become a Golden Calf, before which much of society--including its intelligence and military circles--kneels." Photos.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The amount of detail in this book certainly lends some credence to the book's subtitle, and the journalist authors have also uncovered some fascinating new information: Israel has a number of top secret agencies, including one devoted to protecting their nuclear program and another for rescuing Jews from unfriendly countries; nuclear weapons using submarine-based launch platforms are nearly a reality; and Israel has been spying on the United States for years. The authors work diligently in this book to convince the world of the high morality of the Israeli cause. Israeli intelligence has been a popular subject for fiction and nonfiction, but there has yet to be a definitive nonfiction account on the subject. This readable and entertaining book is recommended for larger Middle East collections. --David P. Snider, Casa Grande P.L., Ariz.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.