Israel's Silent Defender An Inside Look at Sixty Years of Israeli Intelligence

Edited by Brigadier Generals (Res.) Gilboa and Lapid, this collection brings together the essays of former and current Israeli intelligence officials, discussing topics ranging from a comparison of the intelligence of the Six-Day War of 1967 and the Yom Kippur War of 1973, to The Role of Intelligence in the Battle for Hearts and Minds. In addition, the volume details the various sections of Israeli intelligence reputed to be among the best in the world. Responsible for covert actions outside of national borders, the Mossad is perhaps the best-known of all the branches, but the largest member of Israel s intelligence community is Israel Defense Intelligence (IDI), which includes departments overseeing VISINT (visual intelligence), SIGINT (electronics or signal intelligence), OSINT (open source intelligence), and HUMINT (human intelligence). There is also the super-secretive Israel Security Agency (aka Shabak), which is responsible for counterespionage, protecting the country s most important individuals, and preventing terrorism and subversion. Several essays even discuss the challenges ahead. Three appendices provide additional information not covered in the essays, such as a timeline, photos and short bios of heads of the Israeli Intelligence community, and brief write-ups on other pertinent topics. This is an extremely informative and specialized book, and as a result the bureaucratic writing can be tough to slog through. However, there are moments of general interest, such as Gilboas account of destroying half of Hezbollahs long-range rockets in one day, thanks to years of intelligence work. Photos. (Dec.) --Publishers Weekly