TANVI BHARGAVA
A Review of Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel
by Matti Friedman, Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 2019.
Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel is a riveting saga about the time period between 1948 and 1949. This is the period that encompasses the point in time when there was no State of Israel. It traces the creation of Israel and the subsequent Arab Invasion. Authored by Matti Friedman, a Canadian Israeli journalist, it is a factual account written with the help of a personal testimony and book written by two characters of the story. Though the title of the book suggested a narrative evocative of a glamourous spy novel and I got excited about reading another intriguing and thrilling plot involving action and suspense, I realized it is not about that. As I read, I understood this is a plot merely built around spies and the information imparted, is interestingly, all true.
All through the story, I accompanied four Arab-born Jewish spies, Isaac Shoshan, Gamliel Cohen, Yakuba Cohen and Havakuk Cohen (The Cohens are unrelated) as they infiltrated a few Arab countries, collected vital intelligence information and executed sabotage operations such as assassinating people, blowing up ships etc. Native to the Arab world, they fled their respective countries in hopes of joining a country which as pointed out by the author, at that time was “a wish and not a fact”. Portrayed and labelled as “mista’arvim”, translated as the “one who becomes like an Arab”, they worked for a secret unit in Palestine termed as the ‘Arab section’.
Friedman builds on the storyline by offering the readers an insight into how these spies operated for one and a half years. The story unfolds at different locations in every chapter revealing simultaneous anecdotes from the life of each spy. Going undercover and operating out of kiosks and small shops, Friedman provides a glimpse of how challenging camouflaged life could be. Unlike the benefits of modern technology, which provides guidance and regulates the work of spies in the twenty-first century, these spies were left in these countries without any supervision, to act on their instinct. Using archaic equipment, they risk their lives in order to keep a foothold in Palestine.
Though none of them faced the dilemma of adapting to Arab society and consuming the identity of the country that they are stationed at, there was perpetual anxiety of being ensnared at any juncture. While cautiously describing each situation, Friedman often interjects while narrating the story and provides a third person view of the situation at hand in the book. Friedman emphasizes on the importance of “the creation of an agent who could convince you he was one of you” in order to succeed in their mission. This, further highlights how the book navigates through the multiple identities of the recruited agents. Though they were merging with their surroundings, the conundrum of their identity was something they could not escape. Friedman points out “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?”
Even after the creation of Israel, Arab Jews were always side-lined. Despite the Arab section being a base for the creation of Mossad, Israel’s leading intelligence agency, the Arab Jews were considered second class citizens who occupied the position after the European Jews in the hierarchy that existed. While discussing the role of Arab Jews through this book, Friedman opines that “they were condescended to, and pushed to the fringes.” With the end of the world war and global re-arrangements, an element of relaxing autarchy exercised by Britain was also discernible throughout the book.
While Spies of No Country offered an insight into the complicated identity of the State of Israel, it also sheds light on the deceptive and contriving identities of these four spies. When Friedman said, “but another kind of unease is stirred by someone who looks like you but isn’t you”, while referring to the spies, my mind inevitably went to the fact that they were originally Arabs themselves and therefore, labelling them as “someone who isn’t you” is peculiar.
Initially, I felt as though Friedman had essentially just provided a linear account of the events which the spies undertook as part of their mission. However, a few chapters into this book, I realized it has much more to offer. Friedman meticulously incorporates elements of their personal lives as well as throws light on their dual identity and nationality. To avoid blowing their cover, in addition to having Jewish wives, they had to marry Arab women as well. So, absorbed in their new and assumed lives, it makes one wonder about what ultimately was their ‘real’ life?
While reading the book what I alleged was that my political perspective did not change the way I looked at the book. Whether ideologically, one is pro or anti-Israel, it does not make a difference in this context. Though the book as a whole, does glorify and boast the efficient agencies and military power of Israel, which I feel Friedman could have avoided by not bringing in Hasbara or public diplomacy, it also portrays Israel as a covetous power in the world trying to tick all the odds in their favour.
There are, however, a few drawbacks which I came across. The narrative is convolutive. The story jumps and swings from one spy and timeline to the other which makes it extremely unclear and challenging to follow. Friedman mentions the Dreyfus case, however, fails to delve deeper into the idea of Zionism, its European genesis, which would perhaps give a better idea of how there was a sharp division between the Jews in Israel itself.
In the end, Friedman reveals that he dedicated this book to Havakuk Cohen, one of the spies who was killed and could not come back and settle in Israel like the others, a state for which they had jeopardized their life of comfort, uncertain of whether or not their actions would create significant impact. Though not a sanguine ending, the book works as an eye-opener, is extremely engaging and illuminating and as Friedman says, “I was looking less for the sweep of history than for its human heart and found it at these coordinates”, he undoubtedly does.
The views expressed and suggestions made in the articles are solely of the authors in their personal capacity and the Center for Middle East Studies and O.P. Jindal Global University do not endorse the same.