The Sword of Freedom (Review)
THE SWORD OF FREEDOM, written by a former Director of the Mossad, Yossi Cohen, reveals the now declassified inner workings of Israel’s vaunted national intelligence agency as he peels back the layers of secrecy surrounding that institution. The Mossad is responsible for foreign intelligence collection, covert operations, and special tasks to ensure Israel’s security. Cohen lifts the veil on the recruiting methods of agents and foreign assets, the planning of clandestine activities, and the daring innovative execution of its objectives.
Cohen comes from a deeply religious family which led him to believe he was “kidnapped and dropped into the family by the proverbial stork.” He added, “I am different.” As he ascended the ranks of the Mossad, from green recruit to director, he wrestled with how he and his wife Aya were going to raise their four children – secular or religious. An important consideration he had to make as an agent was could he be Shomer Shabbat (Sabbath Observant) and adhere to the strict laws of Kashruth. He also faced the challenges all agents must face, that of balancing his line of work with family life.
But Cohen had additional trials because one of his sons, Yehonatan, was born with cerebral palsy. He cannot walk, cannot read as he is legally blind but managed to become an honor student at school and served in the 8200 Unit, the IDF Intelligence corps, for several years.
Cohen states that he believes in what he terms as the “Principle of the Pipe.” It is his belief that we come into this world with our destiny designated. We are born into our religion, our social class, our country, which is our pipe. Our environment shapes what will eventually enter our pipe, flow through it, and what will pour out at the end. Terrorists and heroes are not born; they are products of their environment, therefore there is more to our pipe than our destiny.
Based on the mission statement of the Mossad, which is to safeguard Israel’s security and future by gathering strategic intelligence, preventing attacks, and undertaking special operations worldwide, Cohen said he believes whatever the organization does and must do is the right thing to do.
Cohen describes himself as an adherent to the NCND code, which are initials standing for No Confirmation, No Denial; it is the hallmark of the Mossad. He states the Mossad is inside the heads of the enemy; it is a part and parcel of their dreams, or more precisely, their nightmares. Uncharacteristically for an intelligence agency, he publicly recruited agents to his shadowy organization, inviting prospective applicants to “join us to see the invisible, and do the impossible.” His efforts paid off, as there are approximately 50,000 applicants to the agency yearly.
Cohen’s self-described crowning achievement was orchestrating the theft of 55,000 documents and 183 CDs which exposed the Iranian regime’s clandestine rush to obtain a nuclear weapon, despite the mullahs having signed onto Obama’s JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). Prime Minister Bibi Nethanyahu publicly revealed Iran’s duplicitousness on April 30, 2018, and exposed the fiction that there was no military dimension to their nuclear program. Nine days later, in response to exposing Iran’s cheating, President Trump withdrew the US from the agreement. Even had Iran complied with the provisions of the JCPOA, they would have had free reign to develop a nuclear weapon four and a half years from now in the year 2030.
Before Mossad recruited Cohen, he was a paratrooper squad leader in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). Years later, during his tenure as Director of the Mossad, he met and became familiar with notable persons such as Vladimir Putin, President Obama, President Biden, Mike Pompeo and President Trump. Cohen noted that although centuries of inquisitions, crusades, pogroms, and the Holocaust contributed to shaping the Jewish psyche, nevertheless he cautioned, “Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster.”
Cohen was not adverse to engage with all kinds of leaders because he believed in opening a dialogue regardless of who it might be. He tells of the time when he met with Obama’s national Security Advisor, Susan Rice, who greeted him tartly, “How are your Russian friends, Yossi?” To which he responded in kind, “ They are not my friends, I work with them to improve Israel’s defense.”
Cohen confesses he is an unyielding Zionist; he was “born a rightist and will most probably die one.” But on many social issues he admits he leans to the left. Israel is his country and it means everything to him. He concludes his book with a quotation from the founding father of Israel, its first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion. “Israel was not created in order to disappear; Israel will endure and flourish.”
Every page of this book is a page turner. Yossi Cohen’s narrative will excite your imagination, as he unwraps the layers of secrecy concealing the inner workings of the world’s most famous international secret intelligence agency, the Mossad.