By Way of Deception
Encyclopedia
By Way of Deception: The Making and Unmaking of a Mossad Officer is a book written by Victor Ostrovsky
and Claire Hoy about Ostrovsky's alleged career as a katsa
(case officer) in the Israel
i Mossad
.
as seen by Victor Ostrovsky. The first part describes his experiences with the organization. It starts when Victor is first approached by the Mossad during his service in the Israeli Defense Forces and is subjected to numerous tests, including psychological ones. While at first rejecting an offer to be trained as a recruit for the assassin's squad, Ostrovsky eventually accepts an offer to become a katsa and joins a class of Mossad candidates going through tradecraft
training. After successfully completing the training Ostrovsky begins working as a katsa
.
Throughout the book, Ostrovsky claims to reveal details of the internal workings of the Mossad itself. Ostrovsky claims that Mossad has access to Jewish helpers all around the world called sayanim (sg. sayan
). Their services can supposedly be requested on short notice and no questions are asked. Because of this, Mossad only needs 30–40 active case officers at any given time. He also explains the different departments functions and how liaisons are conducted with foreign intelligence agencies
. One topic in his book is the suicide bombing of the U.S. Marine compound in Beirut
that killed several hundred U.S. Marines in Lebanon: Ostrovsky maintains that the Mossad knew there was going to be an attack on the Americans' peace mission in Beirut and intentionally withheld that information from the Americans. According to Ostrovsky, a Mossad contact at a local body shop in Beirut told them a truck had come in for major modifications that were consistent with creating a very large truck bomb (in fact the biggest truck and modifications for a truck bomb that anyone in war torn Beirut had ever heard of), in the weeks prior to the suicide bombing of the Marine barracks. The American peacekeeping mission in Beirut was the only likely target of such a large bomb, and the Mossad did not pass on this knowledge to their American counterparts in the intelligence services. Ostrovsky does not attempt to describe why the Mossad, and by extension Israel, allowed the American peacekeeping mission to be attacked.
Ostrovsky refused to use a pen name for the controversial book, saying that if he wanted to hide, he would not have written the book in the first place. Many of Ostrovsky's claims have not been verified from other sources nor have they been refuted, and arguments continue to rage over the credibility of his accounts. However he was named in a lawsuit by the Israeli government saying he was part of the Mossad. Critics such as Benny Morris, David Wise and others have argued the book is essentially a novel and that a case officer would not have had access to so many operational secrets. They write that intelligence organizations practice strict compartmentalization of confidential or secretive information.
As he progresses as a katsa, Ostrovsky experiences growing disillusionment with the organization and its leaders, and begins to question its motives. This culminates in his retirement from the Mossad after being scapegoated for a failed attempt at capturing top PLO officials.
The title of the book is supposedly a translation of part of Proverbs 24:6, which Ostrovsky alleges is the former motto of the Mossad: be-tahbūlōt ta`aseh lekhā milkhamāh (Hebrew
: בתחבולות תעשה לך מלחמה. Ostrovsky claims this translates, "By Way Of Deception, Thou Shalt Do War." The Hebrew word בתחבולות translates into English as, "Ploys, Tricks, Trickery, Subterfuges, or Stratagems" (Source: Google Translate) Alternatively, translations of בתחבולות into English in Proverbs 24:6 in Christian Bibles substitute a different meaning from the original Hewbrew. For example, the King James translation of Proverbs 24:6 is "For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war"; the American Standard Bible translation is, "For by wise guidance thou shalt make thy war"; the New American Standard Bible translation is "For by wise guidance you will wage war." . In contrast The Jewish Study Bible published by Jewish Publication Society at Oxford University Press (2004) under the editing scrutiny of Michael Fishbane, Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler reads "For by stratagems you wage war, and victory comes with much planning".
tried to stop the sale of the book, by the means of a preliminary injunction
. This was the first time that a sovereign state tried to stop a book publication in another sovereign state. However this claim was rejected by courts in the United States
.
Victor Ostrovsky
Victor John Ostrovsky is an author, artist and former katsa for the Israeli Mossad . He authored two non-fiction books about his service with the Mossad: By Way of Deception, a New York Times No. 1 bestseller in 1990, and The Other Side of Deception several years later...
and Claire Hoy about Ostrovsky's alleged career as a katsa
Katsa
A katsa is a field intelligence officer of Mossad. He or she collects information and runs agents, similar to the case officer of the CIA.-Operation:...
(case officer) in the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
.
Life story
This claims to be a true story about MossadMossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
as seen by Victor Ostrovsky. The first part describes his experiences with the organization. It starts when Victor is first approached by the Mossad during his service in the Israeli Defense Forces and is subjected to numerous tests, including psychological ones. While at first rejecting an offer to be trained as a recruit for the assassin's squad, Ostrovsky eventually accepts an offer to become a katsa and joins a class of Mossad candidates going through tradecraft
Tradecraft
Tradecraft is a general term that denotes a skill acquired through experience in a trade.The term is also used within the intelligence community as a collective word for the techniques used in modern espionage...
training. After successfully completing the training Ostrovsky begins working as a katsa
Katsa
A katsa is a field intelligence officer of Mossad. He or she collects information and runs agents, similar to the case officer of the CIA.-Operation:...
.
Throughout the book, Ostrovsky claims to reveal details of the internal workings of the Mossad itself. Ostrovsky claims that Mossad has access to Jewish helpers all around the world called sayanim (sg. sayan
Sayan
Sayan may refer to:* Sayan Mountains, a mountain range in Siberia, Asia* Sayan, India* Sayan, Bali, a village in Bali* Sayán District, Peru* Sayán, city in Peru* Sayana, 14th century Indian commentator on the Vedas...
). Their services can supposedly be requested on short notice and no questions are asked. Because of this, Mossad only needs 30–40 active case officers at any given time. He also explains the different departments functions and how liaisons are conducted with foreign intelligence agencies
Intelligence agency
An intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to information gathering for purposes of national security and defence. Means of information gathering may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public...
. One topic in his book is the suicide bombing of the U.S. Marine compound in Beirut
1983 Beirut barracks bombing
The Beirut Barracks Bombing occurred during the Lebanese Civil War, when two truck bombs struck separate buildings housing United States and French military forces—members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon—killing 299 American and French servicemen...
that killed several hundred U.S. Marines in Lebanon: Ostrovsky maintains that the Mossad knew there was going to be an attack on the Americans' peace mission in Beirut and intentionally withheld that information from the Americans. According to Ostrovsky, a Mossad contact at a local body shop in Beirut told them a truck had come in for major modifications that were consistent with creating a very large truck bomb (in fact the biggest truck and modifications for a truck bomb that anyone in war torn Beirut had ever heard of), in the weeks prior to the suicide bombing of the Marine barracks. The American peacekeeping mission in Beirut was the only likely target of such a large bomb, and the Mossad did not pass on this knowledge to their American counterparts in the intelligence services. Ostrovsky does not attempt to describe why the Mossad, and by extension Israel, allowed the American peacekeeping mission to be attacked.
Ostrovsky refused to use a pen name for the controversial book, saying that if he wanted to hide, he would not have written the book in the first place. Many of Ostrovsky's claims have not been verified from other sources nor have they been refuted, and arguments continue to rage over the credibility of his accounts. However he was named in a lawsuit by the Israeli government saying he was part of the Mossad. Critics such as Benny Morris, David Wise and others have argued the book is essentially a novel and that a case officer would not have had access to so many operational secrets. They write that intelligence organizations practice strict compartmentalization of confidential or secretive information.
As he progresses as a katsa, Ostrovsky experiences growing disillusionment with the organization and its leaders, and begins to question its motives. This culminates in his retirement from the Mossad after being scapegoated for a failed attempt at capturing top PLO officials.
The title of the book is supposedly a translation of part of Proverbs 24:6, which Ostrovsky alleges is the former motto of the Mossad: be-tahbūlōt ta`aseh lekhā milkhamāh (Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
: בתחבולות תעשה לך מלחמה. Ostrovsky claims this translates, "By Way Of Deception, Thou Shalt Do War." The Hebrew word בתחבולות translates into English as, "Ploys, Tricks, Trickery, Subterfuges, or Stratagems" (Source: Google Translate) Alternatively, translations of בתחבולות into English in Proverbs 24:6 in Christian Bibles substitute a different meaning from the original Hewbrew. For example, the King James translation of Proverbs 24:6 is "For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war"; the American Standard Bible translation is, "For by wise guidance thou shalt make thy war"; the New American Standard Bible translation is "For by wise guidance you will wage war." . In contrast The Jewish Study Bible published by Jewish Publication Society at Oxford University Press (2004) under the editing scrutiny of Michael Fishbane, Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler reads "For by stratagems you wage war, and victory comes with much planning".
Mossad operations
The book describes not only his own experience but devotes the second half to other operations that Mossad allegedly carried out between 1971 and 1985, including:- Operation Sphinx: A Mossad operation where Iraqi nuclear scientists were recruited while in France to gather information about Iraq's nuclear reactor Osiraq, ultimately ending with the Israeli air strike in 1981Operation OperaOperation Babylon was a surprise Israeli air strike carried out on June 7, 1981, that destroyed a nuclear reactor under construction 17 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, Iraq....
.
Legal affair
In 1990 IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
tried to stop the sale of the book, by the means of a preliminary injunction
Preliminary injunction
A preliminary injunction, in equity, is an injunction entered by a court prior to a final determination of the merits of a legal case, in order to restrain a party from going forward with a course of conduct or compelling a party to continue with a course of conduct until the case has been decided...
. This was the first time that a sovereign state tried to stop a book publication in another sovereign state. However this claim was rejected by courts in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.