It was only when I got halfway through the book that I found anything compelling- Friedman’s explanation about Jewish identities—someone who looks like you but isn’t you. He brings up the example of Dreyfus believing himself to be a Frenchman but France thought of him as an alien
Amazing that the Jewish spy might have gotten caught because he used toilet paper rather than cleaning themselves with water-an Arab Muslin practice.
The book rarely introduces the ways these spies had to deny their identity as Jews. In one sequence there is discussion about what happens if they saw Arabs beating up an Israeli and the advice was to join in—if not there were disastrous results resulting in deaths because their undercover identities would be exposed. Gamliel, one of the spies, passes by a synagogue and hears Hebrew prayers. He nearly breaks down but then has to remind himself that he is playing the role of an Arab Muslim.
The final sections of the book that explore the relationships the spies had with women almost redeems the work. ( )

This was a good read -- at times, a page-turner -- about the birth of the Israeli intelligence service. The book examines the work of four young men -- Arab Jews -- who were recruited as spies at the birth of Israel. The chilling aspect of their work comes from the fact that they were spies of "no country" -- Israel was just becoming established and lacked the diplomatic and governance structures to support these young men. They also had severe cash shortages!

Those unfamiliar with the early history of Israel may find this book lacks the necessary background or context to allow the reader to fully appreciate the story of these young spies. Nor does it situate the events in today's context of ongoing occupation of the West Bank and the tensions on having a Jewish state in an area populated by Arabian Jews, Muslims and Christians as well as Western Jews who have migrated to the region.

But the book does well what it set out to do: putting human faces on historical events, and taking a complex look at a short time period. ( )

The book is well written, both at the sentence level and in broader terms (organization, narrative choices, etc.). Friedman does a great job at establishing the setting, right at the birth of Israel. But beyond that, there is not nearly enough. The story would be better told in a magazine article than in a book.

> Now we take for granted that Jews had no future at all in the Arab world, but that wasn't obvious right away. In Isaac's hometown of Aleppo, for example, the Jews had survived the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by Rome in 70 CE, the birth of Christianity, the Byzantine Empire, the birth of Islam and the Arab conquest, dynasties of Arabs, Turks, and Mongols, and at least one devastating earthquake that destroyed much of the city. Why wouldn't it survive the birth of the State of Israel? ( )

The Arab Section was comprised on Arab Jews, who could blend into the Arab world during Israel's War of Independence. This book focuses on four spies who spent over two years deep undercover. This was a quick read and an interesting story. Overall, well worth picking up. ( )

This book has a very good look at what spying really entails, a lot of waiting, planning, and occasional bursts of action. The one thing that would have made it better is a better delineation between the past and the present.

Free review copy. ( )