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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.
466 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 11, 2015
A book that draws you into the world of Israeli secret services, equal parts history and analysis of why Israel is a formidable force in both the Middle East and World. Understanding the Mossad and Israel's clandestine work will enable journalists and analysts alike to parse current situations in the region.
The book ends with a measured, open critique of all intelligence agencies.
Required reading for all interested in Middle East politics.
The book ends with a measured, open critique of all intelligence agencies.
Required reading for all interested in Middle East politics.
September 15, 2020
compelling detail ... the triumphs of Mossad and their failures ... my research interest was in the early Mossad years (1949-52) and the capture of Adolf Eichmann several years later
December 27, 2019
My interest in Israeli intelligence arises from a couple of sources, one of which is a personal friendship with an older fellow who, as an Israeli military officer, had been part of the delegation which was secretly negotiating a peace treaty with the Nasser government of Egypt at the time of the bombings associated with the Lavon Affair. This, according to him, scotched the peace talks and represented a power struggle between the progressive wing of Labour (and its allies) and a war faction associated with Ben Gurion. I was hoping to get more detail about all of that as it's not generally recognized but in this regard this book disappointed, the Affair getting rather meagre coverage and the emphasis being on the agents who screwed up the operation.
Generally speaking, this is a roughly chronological account of the various Israeli intelligence agencies: external, internal and military. The thrust of the story is that, with passing years, they have become less idealistic and more mercenary. Coverage only goes through 1990, but the backgrounds given to the Pollard, Vanunu and Iran-Contra cases was of interest to me, having only read about the surface events in newspapers of the time. On the whole, the story is pretty depressing, Israel having some pretty evil partners, many of them, rather unsurprisingly, being ostensibly their adversaries.
Generally speaking, this is a roughly chronological account of the various Israeli intelligence agencies: external, internal and military. The thrust of the story is that, with passing years, they have become less idealistic and more mercenary. Coverage only goes through 1990, but the backgrounds given to the Pollard, Vanunu and Iran-Contra cases was of interest to me, having only read about the surface events in newspapers of the time. On the whole, the story is pretty depressing, Israel having some pretty evil partners, many of them, rather unsurprisingly, being ostensibly their adversaries.
October 4, 2016
The Israeli intelligence agencies, Mossad, Shin Bet, and Aman, were once secret and thought to be invincible. Through the years, for a small country, they did punch above their weight. Remember the daring rescue at Entebbe? But the glory years ended and the services lost their shining reputation. Of course Israel has a right to defend itself. After all, it has been surrounded by enemies that have been sworn to destruction from the inception of the Jewish state. But Israel strayed into a moral quagmire when it began to sell armaments to regimes guilty of human rights violations, like South Africa in the days of apartheid. This book was published in 1990. It is disheartening to realize that the occupied territories remain steeped in violence, Hamas has replaced the PLO in ruling Gaza, and that peace is still a distant dream. The situation continues to deteriorate day by day.
NOTE: At times the intelligence agencies have used dogs with explosives strapped to them to blow up buildings. That is an act of barbarism.
NOTE: At times the intelligence agencies have used dogs with explosives strapped to them to blow up buildings. That is an act of barbarism.
February 23, 2023
Every Spy a Prince is an authorized biography version of Israel's secretive intelligence services, blending a public overview of the structure of this shadow world with a greatest hits version of its intelligence coups, and also some journalist criticism of the intelligence community.
The intelligence community in Israel has been traditionally protected by a veil of censorship unheard of in a democracy. The four key agencies at the time were Mossad, the foreign intelligence service; Aman, the military intelligence service; Shin Bet, in charge of domestic counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism; and Lekem, a scientific intelligence agency that also managed the nuclear program. Lekem has since been dissolved and its duties parceled out across the ministries. The identities of the heads of these agencies were not allowed to be published, as just the tip of secrecy.
The early Mossad was strongly influenced by the extremist militant group Irgun. The first few decades of intelligence work saw a series of massive human intelligence wins. Israeli intelligence got the first non-Soviet copy of Kruschev's denunciation of Stalin, convinced an Iraqi pilot to defect with a then state-of-the art MiG-21, and captured Eichmann in Argentina. Day to day, the intelligence community did pretty well. Spying is a difficult game, and while agents were blown due to bad luck or sloppy tradecraft, with fatal consequences for those in Arab countries, on the whole the Israeli secret services punched above their weight.
Conversely, the 70s and 80s saw a series of alarming failures. Aman missed preparations for the Yom Kippur War, confidently assuming the Arab states would never attack. Mossad fumbled the Lillehammer assassination, killing an innocent man in Norway instead of a member of Black September. After years of ruling the occupied Palestinians through informers, Shin Bet was caught off-guard by the first intifada. And Lekem ran Jonathan Pollard, an American Jew who's spying threatened the key relationship with the United States.
Raviv and Melman close by arguing that the harsh censorship reign is absurd given that the chief of Shin Bet can throw a wild birthday bash attended by gossip columnists. The also raise warnings about the existence of a shadow foreign policy run by ex-intelligence arms merchants. While Mossad has long served as a shadow foreign ministry in countries which cannot officially acknowledge Israel, ex-Mossad agents are only vaguely controlled by the state, and their misdeeds in training and supplying dictators and gangsters reflects badly on Israelis everywhere.
Every Spy A Prince is a little scattershot, and being published in 1990, it now a historical artifact itself. Rise and Kill First by Bergman is the 21st century update. The spycraft stories are still engaging, and its a good read.
The intelligence community in Israel has been traditionally protected by a veil of censorship unheard of in a democracy. The four key agencies at the time were Mossad, the foreign intelligence service; Aman, the military intelligence service; Shin Bet, in charge of domestic counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism; and Lekem, a scientific intelligence agency that also managed the nuclear program. Lekem has since been dissolved and its duties parceled out across the ministries. The identities of the heads of these agencies were not allowed to be published, as just the tip of secrecy.
The early Mossad was strongly influenced by the extremist militant group Irgun. The first few decades of intelligence work saw a series of massive human intelligence wins. Israeli intelligence got the first non-Soviet copy of Kruschev's denunciation of Stalin, convinced an Iraqi pilot to defect with a then state-of-the art MiG-21, and captured Eichmann in Argentina. Day to day, the intelligence community did pretty well. Spying is a difficult game, and while agents were blown due to bad luck or sloppy tradecraft, with fatal consequences for those in Arab countries, on the whole the Israeli secret services punched above their weight.
Conversely, the 70s and 80s saw a series of alarming failures. Aman missed preparations for the Yom Kippur War, confidently assuming the Arab states would never attack. Mossad fumbled the Lillehammer assassination, killing an innocent man in Norway instead of a member of Black September. After years of ruling the occupied Palestinians through informers, Shin Bet was caught off-guard by the first intifada. And Lekem ran Jonathan Pollard, an American Jew who's spying threatened the key relationship with the United States.
Raviv and Melman close by arguing that the harsh censorship reign is absurd given that the chief of Shin Bet can throw a wild birthday bash attended by gossip columnists. The also raise warnings about the existence of a shadow foreign policy run by ex-intelligence arms merchants. While Mossad has long served as a shadow foreign ministry in countries which cannot officially acknowledge Israel, ex-Mossad agents are only vaguely controlled by the state, and their misdeeds in training and supplying dictators and gangsters reflects badly on Israelis everywhere.
Every Spy A Prince is a little scattershot, and being published in 1990, it now a historical artifact itself. Rise and Kill First by Bergman is the 21st century update. The spycraft stories are still engaging, and its a good read.
April 27, 2017
It's been a while since I read this book but I remember it was an interesting read into Israel's government. There were parts that I found dull though. I might have to read this book again to give better thoughts on this book.
August 9, 2017
Much more interesting than I expected. Mostly a series of vignettes, describing many of the exploits of the Mossad, Shin Bet, and Aman. The book is old (1989? 1991? I forget, and I returned it to the library), so it is no longer the "complete" history. An easy to read discussion of these security agencies that are often considered among the best in the world. Even-handed, it describes some of their major failures, as well. I enjoyed also reading about how Israel has had to use its spy agencies in what would otherwise be visible interactions with many nations that otherwise would not want to be publicly known to deal with Israel.
December 24, 2015
Extremely interesting and engrossing book about the history of the 3 "information gathering" services in Israel....The Mossad (foreign), the Shin Bet(domestic), and Aman(military). Their highlights and lowlights from Israeli independence through 1990. Lots of infighting, jealousies, taking credit for accomplishing their victories and the shying away from their defeats.
November 13, 2012
I read it, could put it down.
July 21, 2020
I want to buy this book, please assist me purchasing it
March 4, 2020
I like stories of the Mossad, Shin Bet, and internally allied groups.
Many of the stories you can find in other books, and some of the secrets and philosophies are well-known now.
Israeli intel services were being questioned, legitimately, about their performance or lack thereof, and the book pulls no punches in identifying some gaps.
The trick that Israel repeatedly pulls off is to learn from its mistakes. That is an excellent skill for any individual or organization, and I think this has been well demonstrated since the book's publishing.
It is interesting to read predictions from a book copyrighted 1990. One story tells how Israel, moving to preventive intelligence, was able to thwart a bomb plot for Iberian Airlines flight 888. In a sign of what was to come, Germany released PFLP-GC prisoners 14 days later.
Why?
You'll have to answer that one yourself. See the patterns. Practice sensemaking.
Many of the stories you can find in other books, and some of the secrets and philosophies are well-known now.
Israeli intel services were being questioned, legitimately, about their performance or lack thereof, and the book pulls no punches in identifying some gaps.
The trick that Israel repeatedly pulls off is to learn from its mistakes. That is an excellent skill for any individual or organization, and I think this has been well demonstrated since the book's publishing.
It is interesting to read predictions from a book copyrighted 1990. One story tells how Israel, moving to preventive intelligence, was able to thwart a bomb plot for Iberian Airlines flight 888. In a sign of what was to come, Germany released PFLP-GC prisoners 14 days later.
Why?
You'll have to answer that one yourself. See the patterns. Practice sensemaking.
June 15, 2021
Those who are fans of Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon character might enjoy this book, the factual history of Israel’s intelligence services – Mossad, Shin Bet and Aman. While Silva’s Ari Shamron, an intelligence chief, was called the Memuneh, real life director of the Mossad, Isser Harel (1952 – 1963), also went by that nickname. The authors show the remarkable achievements as well as the abysmal failures of Israel’s intelligence services. They cover its history from before the founding of the State (Shai) until 1990. Rather than the myth of invincible spies, often Israel’s failures seem out of “The Gang that Couldn’t Shoot Straight.” This can be due to politics, over-confidence and poor statecraft. Despite this being serious non-fiction, I found it an interesting and enjoyable read, especially the chapters on Jonathan Pollard and Mordecai Vanunu.
September 29, 2020
Very hard to rate a 30 year old non fiction book which was probably very timely when it was written (thank you lockdown for helping me find books in my husband's collection that I had never read!). However, it was a good history of intelligence services and reminded my of some episodes I had forgotten, clarified others that I had heard of but didn't fully understand, and brought to my attention a few that were new to me. Even 30 years on, I don't regret the time I spent reading it.
November 3, 2021
A very intriguing book and give in depth understanding of the working and proficiency of Mossad. Reading this book gave a understanding of the never say no or cant do attitude of the Israeli citizens and why Mossad is fear my those who think to harm Israel.
December 23, 2025
A fascinating account of the history of the intelligence services, good and bad, notwithstanding the authors' apparent biases. Reading this book, you will learn about the scandals of Leil Hamar, Isser Beeri, and Eli Cohen. You will learn about the triumphs of the Eichmann kidnapping, operation Diamond (the capture of a soviet MiG plane), and many others. Strongly recommend.
February 24, 2013
Lots of interesting nuggets of information.
May 31, 2014
I really enjoyed learning everything in the book but it is jam packed with details and is a little hard to absorb
August 20, 2014
intresting book to read
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews