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Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel Hardcover – March 5, 2019

4.4 out of 5 stars 949 ratings

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“Wondrous . . . Compelling . . . Piercing.” —The New York Times Book Review

Award-winning writer Matti Friedman’s tale of Israel’s first spies has all the tropes of an espionage novel, including duplicity, betrayal, disguise, clandestine meetings, the bluff, and the double bluff—but it’s all true.


Journalist and award-winning author Matti Friedman’s tale of Israel’s first spies reads like an espionage novel--but it’s all true. The four agents at the center of this story were part of a ragtag unit known as the Arab Section, conceived during World War II by British spies and Jewish militia leaders in Palestine. Intended to gather intelligence and carry out sabotage operations, the unit consisted of Jews who were native to the Arab world and could thus easily assume Arab identities.

In 1948, with Israel’s existence hanging in the balance, these men went undercover in Beirut, where they spent the next two years operating out of a newsstand, collecting intelligence and sending messages back to Israel via a radio whose antenna was disguised as a clothesline. Of the dozen spies in the Arab Section at the war’s outbreak, five were caught and executed. But in the end, the Arab Section would emerge as the nucleus of the Mossad, Israel’s vaunted intelligence agency.

Spies of No Country is about the slippery identities of these young spies, but it’s also about the complicated identity of Israel, a country that presents itself as Western but in fact has more citizens with Middle Eastern roots and traditions, like the spies of this narrative. Meticulously researched and masterfully told, Spies of No Country is an eye-opening look at the paradoxes of the Middle East.
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From the Publisher

Praise for Spies of No Country

1

2

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Pumpkinflowers
The Aleppo Codex
Spies of No Country
Customer Reviews
4.4 out of 5 stars 728
4.4 out of 5 stars 707
Price $13.98 $12.99 no data
Also by Matti Friedman “On a par with Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried—its Israeli analog.” —The New York Times Book Review “A superb work of investigative journalism that reads like a detective thriller.”—The Wall Street Journal “Spies of No Country is thrilling, moving, and, like everything that Matti Friedman writes, deeply humane.” —Nicole Krauss, author of Forest Dark

Editorial Reviews

Review

2019 National Jewish Book Awards finalist

Wondrous . . . compelling . . . In unadorned yet piercing prose, Friedman captures what it was like to be part of the Arab Section . . . Friedman succeeds in portraying the ‘stories beneath the stories’ that acted as a bedrock to the rise of the Mossad and serve still as a window into Israel’s troubled soul.”
New York Times Book Review

Spies of No Country is an important book . . . Americans are not accustomed to hearing about Israel's complexity, or its diversity. We are rarely asked to consider Israel as a country that is, as Friedman says, 'more than one thing.' Any serious defender or critic of Israeli politics should consider this a serious problem. Meaningful opinions require nuanced understanding, and Spies of No Country offers that.”
NPR Books

“In
Spies of No Country, Matti Friedman, a Canadian-Israeli journalist, resurrects early operations of the intelligence service of the Palmach, the nascent military that ultimately grew into the mighty Israel Defense Forces. The book is a slim but intriguing string of anecdotes in which members of the unit risk their lives under cover in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq as Jewish settlers and refugees fought to preserve their foothold in Palestine.”
The Wall Street Journal

“Engaging . . . Illuminating . . . Friedman seems to be telling this story for larger purposes. He wants to shine a light on a band of Arab-born operatives often overlooked in the stories of Israel’s founding as a Holocaust refuge led by Europeans in the Zionist movement. When I was done, I couldn’t stop thinking about the men inside the Beirut kiosk, selling candy and pencils to schoolchildren while secretly listening to a transistor radio tucked in the back, trying to pick up news from home.”
The Washington Post

“One of the most compelling, compulsively readable histories I've read in a long while. Matti Friedman is a lyrical writer and a master of suspenseful storytelling. His gripping spy story doesn’t just narrate Israel’s heroic founding—it illuminates its tortured present.”
Franklin Foer, author of World Without Mind

Spies of No Country is thrilling, moving, and, like everything that Matti Friedman writes, deeply humane.”
Nicole Krauss, author of Forest Dark

"A thrilling Israeli spy story . . . Matti Friedman tells this story with great style. Not only is
Spies of No Country good on such sophisticated, tangled questions of identity; it also just tells a fun story. As a literary document, Spies of No Country is exquisite . . . beautiful and exciting.”
The Forward

“Matti Friedman’s
Spies of No Country is a compelling tale of Israeli espionage. But more than that, it is a meditation on Israel’s national origin story . . . compelling . . . like the best le Carré . . . Friedman’s superb storytelling skills are such that he employs the devices of fiction, most notably the use of dramatic irony, which gives the narrative a particular poignancy.”
The American Interest

“Matti Friedman’s enthralling new book,
Spies of No Country, tells the story of a Palmach unit called the Arab Section. The Palmach was the underground Jewish army that fought in British Palestine.”
Commentary Magazine

“On the surface, it’s an engaging spy saga. Beneath that, though, lies an examination of identity and the humanity behind both sides of the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict. Ultimately, Gamliel, Isaac, Havakuk, and Yakuba were unknown until now because they were not caught and thus escaped greater renown. Matti Friedman does us, his readers, a great service not just in bringing their exploits to light, but in sharing with us insights into how they impacted history and the region.”
Washington Independent Review of Books

“Excellent . . . compelling . . . [the spies’] stories are an unjustly forgotten—and fascinating—aspect of Israel’s founding. [Friedman’s] deeply researched book is not only enjoyable but groundbreaking.”
Jewish Review of Books

“A noteworthy and authentic spy story.
Spies of No Country tells the story of the birth of the State of Israel in 1948 through the accounts of a small group of Jewish heroes, the Arab Section, who spied for the new state in surrounding Arab countries . . . filled with riveting vignettes. This is rather a splendid retelling of one small part of the effort to create a Jewish homeland. Friedman’s account of the Arab Section is an eye-opening narrative of the early days of the State of Israel. It is not an optimistic story, but a genuine and sorrowful one.”
The New York Journal of Books

Spies of No Country, the third book by the Israeli journalist, shares the gripping and previously untold stories of four Mizrahi Jews who took part in a spy unit called the Arab Section. Friedman’s approach to this often untold history of Israel is a refreshing one – and has been taboo for many writers. The rich history of Eastern Jews, including the critical role they played in establishing the State of Israel, should not be minimized or erased by the superficial biases of Western scholars. Thankfully, Friedman’s groundbreaking book provides a vital example of how to avoid just that.”
Jerusalem Post

We learn more about what a real-life espionage agent actually does in Spies of No Country than in any mere thriller . . . so exotic that it sounds like something out of the imagination of Ian Fleming. Friedman’s book is animated by his conviction that respect must be paid to these overlooked heroes. Thus does Friedman rectify a moral and historical wrong when he calls our attention to the four young men whom we come to know so well and admire so much in the pages of Spies of No Country.”
Jewish Journal (Los Angeles)

“Matti Friedman’s
Spies of No Country tells the story of four men who became members of the Arab Section and went undercover in Beirut for two years. Readers who know Friedman from his previous books, Pumpkinflowers and The Aleppo Codex, will already appreciate Friedman’s talent in creating dramatic nonfiction. A spy story inherently involves situations that complicate the life of the main character. Friedman enhances his story by defining how his character perceives the situations he encounters, but also how he, the writer, perceives the character perceiving the situation.”
Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston)

“Refreshing . . . Friedman’s book exposes the complex reality of these loyal Israelis who were challenged, exoticized and vilified again and again by Ashkenazi Jews. The rich history of Eastern Jews, including the critical role they played in establishing the State of Israel, should not be minimized or erased by the superficial biases of Western scholars. Thankfully, Friedman’s groundbreaking book provides a vital example of how to avoid just that.”
Jewish Star

“Sometimes we read books that fill in details about a particular moment in the history we care deeply about, and we learn so much. Matti Friedman has written such a book about the Jewish spies who spoke Arabic as their native language because they had grown up in places like Syria, Yemen and Jerusalem during the British mandate before Israel became an embattled state in May 1948. Friedman’s reporting on this moment in the formative time in Israeli history is helpful today as we watch events unfold that give hope for better relations between Israeli Jews and their Arab neighbors.” 
St. Louis Jewish Light

“Veiling their Jewishness, the spies of the ‘Arab Section’ were present at the creation of Israel. Matti Friedman tells their little-known story. Friedman is a skilled storyteller with an eye for detail, and grounded in facts.”
The New York Jewish Week
 
“Remarkable . . . a fascinating account . . . a wealth of information and various tidbits that make it so worthwhile to read. With so much anti-Israel bias currently going on, this book serves as a truthful and unbiased account of the founding of the State of Israel. I would definitely recommend
Spies of No Country to anybody who wants to learn more about Israel and Zionism in general.”
Manhattan Book Review

“In his new book,
Spies of No Country, Friedman, who is now based in Jerusalem, combines his in-depth knowledge of Israel with a riveting narrative to recount the story of the Arab Section, an Israeli spy operation active from January 1948 to August 1949. Based on both interviews and archives, Friedman drops readers into the complex, shifting and dangerous landscape of the 1948 conflict. Spies of No Country is a fascinating journey into the past that reads like a spy novel—except in this case, it’s all true.”
BookPage

“Friedman tells the fascinating story of the Arab Section . . . At that time, Israel was many things, and the author deftly navigates the complicated identities and the stories beneath the stories. An exciting historical journey and highly informative look at the Middle East with Israel as the starting point.”
Kirkus Reviews
 
“In evocative prose detailing mid-20th-century life in the dangerous streets of Haifa and Beirut, journalist Friedman recounts the intertwined stories of four underground spies for the Arab Section of the Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary organization in Palestine that became part of the Israel Defence Forces after Israel’s founding.”
Publishers Weekly

“[An] absolutely arresting account of espionage at the genesis of the Israeli state.”
Booklist (starred review)

“At that time, Israel was many things, and the author deftly navigates the complicated identities and the stories beneath the stories . . . An exciting historical journey and highly informative look at the Middle East with Israel as the starting point.”
Kirkus Reviews

"A fine, moving piece of writing, told with simplicity and artistry."
Benny Morris, author of 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War

“This book sure looks like a rollicking spy story. It’s got all the necessary parts: a high-stakes war for a new state’s existence, double identities, suspense, betrayal. But it’s more than that. This is a book about being an outsider many times over. The four spies in
Spies of No Country grew up as Jews in Arab lands; came of age in British Palestine as dark-skinned Middle Easteners looked down on by their European counterparts; lived undercover as Arabs in hostile territory; and were never publicly acknowledged in Israel as the heroes they were. Justice demanded that their stories be told. We’re lucky that a writer as gifted as Matti Friedman came along to tell them.”
Judith Shulevitz, New York Times op-ed contributor and author of The Sabbath World
 
“Matti Friedman shows us how an heroic little band of Jewish spies from Arab countries helps explain the political and cultural transformation of Israel from its European Jewish origins into the largely Middle Eastern country it is today. With
Spies of No Country, Matti Friedman proves that he is one of the essential interpreters of Israel writing today.”
Yossi Klein Halevi, New York Times bestselling author of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor 

About the Author

Matti Friedman’s 2016 book Pumpkinflowers was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book and as one of Amazon’s 10 Best Books of the Year. It was selected as one of the year’s best by BooklistMother JonesForeign Affairs, the National Post, and the Globe and Mail. His first book, The Aleppo Codex, won the 2014 Sami Rohr Prize and the American Library Association’s Sophie Brody Medal. A contributor to the New York Times’ opinion page, Friedman has reported from Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Moscow, the Caucasus, and Washington, DC, and his writing has appeared in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, and the Washington Post. Friedman grew up in Toronto and now lives with his family in Jerusalem. 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Algonquin Books; First Edition (March 5, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1616207221
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1616207229
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.5 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.25 x 8.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 949 ratings

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Matti Friedman
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Matti Friedman’s work as a reporter has taken him from Lebanon to Morocco, Cairo, Moscow and Washington, D.C., and to conflicts in Israel and the Caucasus. He has been a correspondent for the Associated Press, and his writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Tablet Magazine, and elsewhere. He grew up in Toronto and lives in Jerusalem.

"The Aleppo Codex," his first book (Algonquin, 2012) won the 2014 Sami Rohr Prize and the ALA's Sophie Brody Medal, among other honors. His second book, "Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier's Story" (Algonquin, May 2016) won starred reviews in Kirkus, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal, and was compared by the New York Times to Tim O'Brien's masterpiece "The Things They Carried."

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4.4 out of 5 stars
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Customers say

Customers find this book to be a compelling account of Israel's secret agents at the birth of the Mossad, describing it as a quick read that turns into an intriguing plot. The writing is beautifully crafted, with one customer noting how it paints a picture that comes to life. They appreciate the storytelling, and one customer describes it as a real-life spy novel that doesn't disappoint.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

26 customers mention "Story quality"26 positive0 negative

Customers praise the book's story quality, describing it as a fascinating and compelling history that turns into an intriguing plot.

"On the surface, this concise book is a thrilling untold history of Israel’s first spies...." Read more

"...It also sheds light into the mindset that Israel will always have to fight. The Arab desire to kill the Jews...." Read more

"An interesting narrative about young Jewish men establishing an undercover agency with no experience and no how-to manuals...." Read more

"...Sketchy stories, serious and dangerous, emerge from the author’s overly detailed but murky style...." Read more

20 customers mention "Readability"20 positive0 negative

Customers find the book to be a quick and wonderful read, with one customer noting it reads like good spy fiction.

"...I learned quite a bit, and enjoyed the book." Read more

"Highly recommend this book." Read more

"This was a great and quick read that opened my eyes to the self identity of the Arab Jews in the beginning years of the state of Israel." Read more

"Fantastic book! The author takes us on a real life journey of a spy. It isn’t the portrayal seen in Hollywood but immensely compelling nonetheless...." Read more

8 customers mention "Writing quality"8 positive0 negative

Customers praise the writing quality of the book, finding it beautifully crafted, with one customer noting how the author portrays events with tasteful restraint.

"...several Mista’aravim (Arab-speaking Mizrachi Jewish spies) is very well fleshed out. I learned quite a bit, and enjoyed the book." Read more

"...The danger was palpable, and Friedman portrays it with tasteful restraint...." Read more

"The author writes in a way that paints a picture that comes to life. Powerful, historical, and a perspective delivered eloquently." Read more

"Very well written. The story was really intriguing." Read more

6 customers mention "Storytelling"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the storytelling compelling, with one describing it as riveting.

"This book is very well-written, and conveys the feeling of anxiety, zeal and internal confusion being a spy...." Read more

"...Sketchy stories, serious and dangerous, emerge from the author’s overly detailed but murky style...." Read more

"...It isn’t the portrayal seen in Hollywood but immensely compelling nonetheless...." Read more

"Fascinating history, always compelling and remarkable." Read more

4 customers mention "Spy fiction"4 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the spy fiction elements of the book, with one describing it as an interesting non-fiction page-turner.

"...well-written, and conveys the feeling of anxiety, zeal and internal confusion being a spy...." Read more

"While the book is very interesting from the spy craft aspect; I took away a lot about the chaos of the middle east in that timeframe and the..." Read more

"Fantastic book! The author takes us on a real life journey of a spy. It isn’t the portrayal seen in Hollywood but immensely compelling nonetheless...." Read more

"The book is an exciting view of the creation of Israel and the incredible spies who played such an important role." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2019
    On the surface, this concise book is a thrilling untold history of Israel’s first spies. It is in some ways a tale out of a Daniel Silva Gabriel Allon novel. As the title tells us, these were spies of no country: they become spies and operated before the state came into existence. Friedman focuses primarily on four men of the Arab Section. They were recruited to be spies because they could pass as Arabs: they knew the language, the customs, the way of life, in a way only a local could.

    And this gets to the second layer. These four men were born and raised in the Arab world: they were from Syria, Yemen, and Jerusalem. They were not from Warsaw or Minsk. The Mizrahi, Jews of the Islamic world, were largely invisible in the early days of Israel and in the founding stories of Israel. Friedman’s book is telling the story of these four to help us see the Mizrahi and their importance to Israel; then and today. The title is, I suspect, also part of this layer: the Israel that they become spies for didn’t fully see them. They believed in and spied for the Land of Israel: but the state of Israel came into existence when they were already operating in Beirut and Damascus. By the time they returned to Israel, it was already a very different from the place they left. In this sense too, maybe, they were spies of no country.

    Another layer of the book is the slipperiness and messiness of identity. This was a time of gigantic shifts and things got very messy, very quickly. The uneasy, yet relatively stable world in Europe was finally destroyed by WWII and now that was happening in the Middle East as new countries, including Israel, created themselves with new identities. This is given some measure of reality with the lives of these four spies. They were Jews born in the Arab world; they grew up speaking Arabic. As these shifts began, they left the Arab world to live among the Jewish, Hebrew speaking communities in what soon would be Israel. But then as spies, they are sent to live as Arabs among the Arabs. This is highlighted by this quote about the men as they were training to be spies: “But were they Arabs? They would have said no, and most Arabs would have said no. But they were native to the Arab world—as native as Arabs. If the key to belonging to the Arab nation was the Arabic language, as the Arab nationalists claimed, they were inside. So were they really ‘becoming like Arabs’? Or were they already Arabs? Were they pretending to be Arabs, or were they pretending to be people who weren’t Arabs pretending to be Arabs?” (58). It’s enough to give anyone an identity crisis!

    Another layer is the ambiguity of founding stories and myths. This not unique to Israel. Americans face this too in trying somehow to make sense of the intellectual and practical achievements of liberty by men such as Jefferson and Washington with the horrors and evils of slavery in which they partook. Friedman’s book highlights the seeming paradox that Israel born out of the ideas in 19th century Europe is peopled by a population half of whom have grandparents from places like Iraq rather than Poland. Friedman’s spies come from and teach us something about this half of the population. Largely invisible for the first part half of Israel’s existence, they are becoming more and more a prominent part of the country’s culture and politics. Understanding the future of Israel means, in part, understanding this invisible past.

    Friedman’s book is an opening, an invitation to this past.
    15 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2019
    This book is very well-written, and conveys the feeling of anxiety, zeal and internal confusion being a spy. The setting of the action - Palestine in the late British Mandate, Lebanon in 1947-49, and Israel just after that is well sketched. The lives of the several Mista’aravim (Arab-speaking Mizrachi Jewish spies) is very well fleshed out. I learned quite a bit, and enjoyed the book.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2024
    Highly recommend this book.
  • Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2024
    Worth reading
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2019
    Friedman's meticulous research and passion for the subject are obvious throughout this book. As he tells the story of Israel's first spies, sent out before Israel was even officially a country, the reader learns about one of the fascinating episodes in Jewish history.

    Despite having never heard this story before and being a fan of historical nonfiction, this book just didn't grab me. I found myself interested enough each time I picked it up, but not interested enough to pick it up that often. I began it on December 8th and finished it on February 21st, during which time I finished 47 other books - this speaks volumes! The publisher's blurb makes it sound like this novel is full of intrigue and suspense, a lot like a Tom Clancy or Dale Brown novel. Sadly, though the intrigue, betrayal, and danger are all there - there just wasn't any suspense. I felt no emotion while reading this book. Sure, the facts were interesting enough and I continued reading, but the only compulsion I ever felt to pick the book back up was guilt because I accepted the book in exchange for providing a review. Honestly, had I not felt obligated to complete a review, I may not have finished the book. But, I contrast that with the fact that each time I did pick it up, I read without boredom.

    So, I'm giving this one 3 stars: 2 for the actual book itself and a bonus 1 for the obvious research that went into making sure it was an accurate portrayal of a story that really needs to be told.

    Disclaimer: I received a free advanced copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2021
    This book is more than a history of four men who were involved in the gathering of intelligence during the founding of the nation Israel. It also sheds light into the mindset that Israel will always have to fight. The Arab desire to kill the Jews.

    Also I was reminded that when Israel became a state/nation in 1948 there was no military, no government, no infrastructure, no ... Just a declaration that a new nation exists. This new nation faced enemies on every side save the Med, that were bent on her destruction. This is the reality that Israel faced in 1948 and to a large degree still faces today.

    What is also interesting is to pay attention to who was arming the Arab countries fighting against Israel.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2024
    I felt their isolation, lost in this no man’s land. Their destiny running parallel to Israel’s, twisting in the wind.
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2019
    It's almost an oxymoron to be a "spy of no country," and yet here it is: spies of a yet-to-be country, so immersed in their work that they were unaware of Israel's birth. The danger was palpable, and Friedman portrays it with tasteful restraint.

    Words rarely fail me, but in trying to describe the book, here they do. It's small, but it's intensely moving. It was hard to put down.
    16 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars A real life spy thriler now brought to life.
    Reviewed in Australia on June 26, 2019
    At last these brave men's lives have been revealed. The unsung story's of greate heroism and patriotic sacrifice for the State of Israel. May G-D continue to watch over their soles and those of their living relatives.
    One person found this helpful
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  • P. Stewart
    5.0 out of 5 stars Just my type of book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 10, 2024
    I saw an interview on youtube with the author if this book and immediately purchased it on amazon.

    It was a very interesting read to see the beginning of ISRAEL. I could not put it down.
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasure to read
    Reviewed in Canada on March 19, 2019
    Great read. Finished over a weekend.
    Fresh insight into the madness we call the Middle East and the conflicts there.
  • Lecteur bienveillant
    4.0 out of 5 stars Spies of no country
    Reviewed in France on August 13, 2019
    A fascinating and little known facet of the "dark side", political fumblings and "trial-and-error" information-gathering sagas which preceded the founding of Israël. Very interesting for those who lived through this period, were subjected to its convulsions and are, in general, interested in the Middle East. Political and military objectives and their consequences on the personal lives of men used as "spy guinea-pigs" are presented in such vivid ways that one sometime substitues oneself to the spy and shivers in his place. Well Worth reading.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Wolfgang Kasper
    4.0 out of 5 stars The changing face of Israel
    Reviewed in Australia on June 20, 2022
    The story of the small Mideastern Israeli contribution to the war, which broke out when Britain withdrew from Palestine, comes to life in this book. It is a fascinating record of what it takes for an Arab-speaking Jew to be trained to become a fully convincing Arab spy. Although the heroes of this spy story spoke Arabic, they hailed from communities of Mideastern Jews, who had lived in a culture apart. Systematic training in Muslim cultural and religious habits and country-specific knowledge was needed to make these men ‘undetectable’, when operating in Muslim countries. Their exploits make for thrilling reading.
    The immigrants to Palestine had initially come mainly from Europe, and Mideasterners were in a small minority. This has meantime changed dramatically, as Friedman stresses. The original image of the State of Israel of a Western democracy, which still lingers around the world, must now be corrected. The country’s culture and outlook is now Mideastern. What I took away from Friedman’s conclusions is that Jewishness has to be considered a religious-cultural quality, and not an ethnic category.