By Way of Deception: The Making and Unmaking of Mossad Officer

by Victor Ostrovsky and Claire Hoy

Book Overview

The first time the Mossad came calling, they wanted Victor Ostrovsky for their assassination unit, the kidon. He turned them down. The next time, he agreed to enter the grueling three-year training... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312056133
• ISBN13: 9780312056131
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 371 Pages
• Weight: 1.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Inner sanctum of the Mossad

This is a fantastic book if you are looking for an operational manual on intelligence training. Most of the book focuses on how the mossad pick and train their agents, along with the author's experience with the training methods. It also touches upon the politics and foreign relationships within the intelligence community. The last part of the book details several missions of the Mossad from an insider's perspective. This gave real insight into details often missed when reading newspapers (often manipulated by the intelligence community). Buy the book, you will not be disappointed. This is a must have for any intelligence library.

Inside Look

This is a book about how one man became a Mossad agent in the Israeli foreign intelligence agency. He details his joining and ascent in the ranks. The main focus of the book is the description of the training he and others under went, and then descriptions of some operations he was involved in. I had always heard that the Mossad was one of the better intelligence organizations out there - in the class of the CIA, KGB, MI5, but the detail described about training and information gathering makes one really appreciated how good they are. All this with a substantially smaller force then the other groups have, it makes for an organizations that man for man is probably the best. The book really brings out the determination of the recruits and the dedication the members of the Mossad have. The author does a good job with this book. He is economical with his words and you do not ever get bogged down in dry information. The fact that he brings emotions to the reasons he joined and what he went through give the book more punch then just a telling by an investigative reporter. If you are interested in the world or espionage then this is a great book to read.

Riveting, revealing, worrisome.

Ostrovsky's book is a must for people who want to understand the secret services. Initially, you are shocked by the revelations, recognizing that it may compromise Israeli national security and its agents. Then you are awed by the training, the logistics and coordination of information gathering. You then become worried, that such a complex and effective organization has no real accountability. Perhaps, the real worry is that Ostrovsky describes a mode of conduct whereby Mossad redefines right and wrong (redefining it in terms of "what's good for Israel and especially Mossad is good, the hell with the rest"), and acts on that basis. And finally, you reconcile your emotions with the knowledge that this couragous book can only force a re-evaluation of Mossad practices. Today's Israeli leaders cannot ignore the claims made by this book, and because of it, there is a little more accountability in the world. I enjoyed the book thoroughly.