The Greatest Missions of the Mossad by Michael Bar-Zohar and Nissim Mishal
By Sheila Orysiek
SAN DIEGO — In 1965, Ezer Weizman was Chief of the Israeli Air Force and Meir Amit was Head of the Mossad (Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations). The USSR had recently begun flying its newest MIG-21 fighter. This plane had never landed in a western country and no one in the west had see one up close. Since the USSR had begun to sell the plane to various Arab countries, Israel was very concerned.
One day Air Force Chief Weizman telephoned Mossad Chief, Amit, and said he needed to see that plane. Amit assumed he wanted the technical plans for the plane, but when he realized Weizman wanted the actual Soviet fighter jet he yelled into the phone: “Have you gone mad?”
Less than one year later a MIG-21 landed at Hatzor Air Base in Israel piloted by an Iraqi. The last few moments were the most dangerous as the plane entered Israeli air space and each Israeli defense station watched the plane fly by. They had been instructed to allow it to enter the country without a defending response. This is just one of many Mossad operations described in detail in this book.
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From the Jewish Library
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Just as gripping was the rescue of young Jewish women from Damascus and the rescue of the Ethiopian Jews in the midst of a civil war. Some operations were in retaliation for terrorist and/or Nazi massacres. Other operations failed with disastrous and deadly results. The people of Israel and the government are always weighing a concern for the ethical balance of what is necessary for survival in a deadly neighborhood and where that boundary lies.
A most interesting book.
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Orysiek is a freelance writer who specializes in coverage of arts and letters. She may be contacted via sheila.orysiek@sdjewishworld.com