Meticulously researched and masterfully told, Spies of No Country is an eye-opening look at the paradoxes of the Middle East. Spies of No Country is about the slippery identities of these young spies, but it?s also about the complicated identity of Israel, a country that presents itself as Western but in fact has more citizens with Middle Eastern roots and traditions, like the spies of this narrative.

But in the end, the Arab Section would emerge as the nucleus of the Mossad, Israel?s vaunted intelligence agency. Of the dozen spies in the Arab Section at the war?s outbreak, five were caught and executed. In 1948, with Israel?s existence hanging in the balance, these men went undercover in Beirut, where they spent the next two years operating out of a newsstand, collecting intelligence and sending messages back to Israel via a radio whose antenna was disguised as a clothesline. Readers who know Friedman from his previous books, Pumpkinflowers and The Aleppo Codex, will already appreciate Friedman’s talent in creating dramatic nonfiction.

Intended to gather intelligence and carry out sabotage operations, the unit consisted of Jews who were native to the Arab world and could thus easily assume Arab identities. Jewish Journal (Los Angeles) Matti Friedman’s Spies of No Country tells the story of four men who became members of the Arab Section and went undercover in Beirut for two years. Journalist and award-winning author Matti Friedman?s tale of Israel?s first spies reads like an espionage novel-but it?s all true. The four agents at the center of this story were part of a ragtag unit known as the Arab Section, conceived during World War II by British spies and Jewish militia leaders in Palestine. Piercing.? The New York Times Book ReviewĪward-winning writer Matti Friedman?s tale of Israel?s first spies has all the tropes of an espionage novel, including duplicity, betrayal, disguise, clandestine meetings, the bluff, and the double bluff?but it?s all true. Spies of No Country is about the slippery identities of these spies, but it’s also about the complicated identity of Israel, a country that presents itself as Western but in fact has more citizens with Middle Eastern roots, just like the spies of this fascinating narrative.?Wondrous. Journalist and award-winning author Matti Friedman’s masterfully told and meticulously researched tale of Israel’s first spies reads like an espionage novel-but it’s all true.

Of the dozen members of their ragtag unit, five would be caught and executed-but the remainder would emerge as the nucleus of the Mossad, Israel’s vaunted intelligence agency. In 1948, at the outbreak of war in Palestine, they went undercover in Beirut, spending two years running sabotage operations and sending crucial intelligence back home. The four spies were young, Jewish, and born in Arab countries. Piercing.” - The New York Times Book ReviewĪward-winning writer Matti Friedman’s tale of Israel’s first spies has all the tropes of an espionage novel, including duplicity, betrayal, disguise, clandestine meetings, the bluff, and the double bluff-but it’s all true.**

Spies of No Country by Matti Friedman