Khaberni - The former director of the Israeli intelligence agency (Mossad), Yossi Cohen, has published a book titled "By Trickery, You Wage War" in its Hebrew edition, while the book has a different title in English, "Sword of Freedom: Israel’s Mossad and the Secret War."
Cohen said in his book, released at the end of last September: "A few months ago, I was returning from a business trip in New York, and as usual, the plane was delayed. In the waiting lounge, I sat next to a distinguished professor from a well-known Israeli university (in the last chapter of the book he confirms it was Haifa University). We know each other by name; but this was our first meeting, so a beautiful cultural and political dialogue took place between us. However, he made sure to tell me that I am a (right-wing general), adding: (We differ from each other. You are very right-wing, and I am very left-wing. I am a supporter of peace, a supporter of Jewish-Arab coexistence. Many of my students are Arabs). I explained to him: (I am a liberal right-wing. But first and foremost, I am a believing Jew, a patriotic Israeli, a loyal Zionist, but indeed a democrat. I don't hate Arabs, nor even those who hate me. However, I am ready to cut off the head of anyone who wants to destroy my country and my existence. At the same time, I admire Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, and Mahatma Gandhi). And so we discussed until he told me: (Yossi. You should be the prime minister), to which I responded: (And will you come with me?). He laughed and said: (No, of course. My wife would kill me)."
About 30 pages earlier, Cohen recounts another story about his work which he told his wife, Aya, affirming that she passed the tough security test which classifies her as a keeper of secrets, and therefore, she is suitable to be the wife of an officer in the Mossad. He says: "Her comment was as follows: Yossi you should become the head of the Mossad."
Indeed, Cohen became the head of this agency, considered one of the most important Israeli security agencies. In the last war with Iran and its allies in the region, it was revealed that he succeeded in planting large cells of agents on Iranian territory; these agents carried out precise operations, and gathered juicy information about the Iranian nuclear project and the leadership of the Revolutionary Guard, operations that raised Cohen's status and made him a prominent name, especially in the corridors of Western security agencies.
After the book was released, analysts quickly said that it was intended to lay a red carpet for Cohen on his way to the prime ministerial post. This might be a legitimate ambition, and perhaps a reflection of high narcissism, but what is certain is that it comes at a time when the Israeli state is suffering from a severe leadership crisis.
Every word in the book contributes to highlighting Cohen's merits and qualities, in case he wanted to play a political role in the future. When discussing his autobiography, he highlights his past as a son of religious Zionism, thereby gaining the right-wing, and he highlights the values of sacrifice for the nation to win over the Israeli center and left, and he talks about the great and dangerous adventures he conducted to win over the youth, and he talks about the successful Mossad operations, to be a counter to the failures that occurred in Israel on October 7, 2023, when a surprise attack by "Hamas" took place, occupying 11 military sites and 22 villages, killing hundreds of Israelis.
In all chapters of the book, Cohen discusses Israel's need for new leadership that possesses leadership qualities that overcome selfishness with national interest, and in which the new leader achieves a sacred mission; to unite the people and eliminate the spirit of division and internal hostility; Cohen takes stories of "Mossad," the Israeli external intelligence agency, as a model to prove that he is specifically the leader suitable for Israel; he talks about his qualities as a strong man who controls his subordinates, an ingenious devilishly creative thinker, a capable person to activate a wide network of agents from afar, and a sacrificing person who recruits alongside him sacrificing people; he highlights himself as a person who is not afraid of adventures nor confrontations, and as a person who can tame people even among the ranks of the enemy.
Cohen recounts that once, the American President, Donald Trump, said to him in the White House: "How is the strongest man in the Middle East?". Then he recounts his meeting with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, describing him as "colleague", considering that both came from intelligence agencies. He quotes from American intelligence chiefs he worked with that they consider him "the greatest Israeli patriot, and the greatest friend to America."
Cohen says in the book: "My wife says that from the beginning I set a goal to be the leader of the Mossad, but I don't remember saying this; however, in my heart I wanted to be a leader, indeed to be the leader of all leaders."
He adds that he "draws the leadership spirit from three political figures in Israeli history; David Ben-Gurion, the founder of the state who belongs to liberal socialism, Ze'ev Jabotinsky, and Menachem Begin, founders of the right-wing Zionism, and from a security figure, Meir Dagan, the former head of the Mossad. By this, Cohen means the unity of the Zionist movement with its liberal socialist and right-wing Zionist sides, along with a security general; this appears to be a message appealing to the Jewish passion today in Israel, as people are tired of disputes and conflicts, and they demand politicians to unite their ranks."
He continues: "General Dagan influenced me profoundly.. One of the most important principles he taught me: 'You must strike your enemy with the precision of a surgeon. It is the duty of security agencies to do everything in their power to postpone the next war, for as long as possible, but through exploiting time to use secret means locally'."
Security breach in Iran... A stunning success
The matter of the security breach in Iran was central in Cohen's book, explaining that this breach was set as the primary task since the early 2000s, and this task recorded a stunning success, as Cohen narrates.
The available information to the Israelis at that time spoke that Pakistan, and later North Korea, were providing Tehran with nuclear expertise, so the then head of the Mossad, Meir Dagan, appointed a leader for a new unit whose goal was to discover Iran's nuc
