The Palmach division recruited Jews who came to Palestine as part of their secret army, and this army included an “Arab division”, sometimes called the “black division” because of the difference in color of their skin, and the division includes Jews from the Islamic world. Friedman focuses on Israel’s early conflicts with the Arabs as well as on Israel’s internal problems with parts of its settlers. He paused before describing the first Jews to occupy Palestinian land as legends who came from Europe and worked in kibbutzim. The earlier conquerors largely ignored or rejected the contributions of Jews from the Arab world.
Friedman pointed to an article in Haaretz from April 1949 in which journalist Aryeh Gilblom, who worked as a reporter at a camp for Jews in North Africa who spoke Arabic, described the Jews of the Arab world as having “Brutal primitive instincts” and “they don’t. the ability to understand any intellectual, and their level of intelligence is even lower than that of the Palestinian Arabs. ” Therefore, the Zionist movement did not know what to do with them, so they ignored and threw them aside. But the book proves this rule completely wrong by ignoring and marginalizing the role of Arab Jews in the process of Israel’s conquest and settlement.
The book recounts the experience of four spies: Isaac Shoshan, Gamlil Cohen, Havakok Cohen, and Yaquba Cohen, who were Jews of Mizrahim (Mizrahim) Mizrahi, who came from Islamic societies, spoke Arabic and followed a different form of Judaism. Gamlil Cohen from Damascus was the first customer shipped overseas and became the owner of a store in Beirut. Yaquba Cohen, the only of four born in Jerusalem, and Havakok Cohen from Yemen, 24. And finally, Ishak Shushan, better known by the nickname “Abu Sahik”, worked as a secret agent. investigators in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
Shortly after the Palestinian Nakba in 1948, a small group of Jewish spies set up a kiosk in Beirut as part of the first intelligence station in an Arab country. For Lebanese citizens, the men at the kiosk next to the school, who sell pencils, sweets and sandwiches every morning, cannot cause suspicion. Also, if not more importantly, the Jewish salesmen/spies were very similar to their customers, many of whom had government or military ties. These Jews came from the Arab world – Syria or Yemen – and as agents of Israel they explored the Muslim and Christian worlds to learn and gain information.
The Jewish spies had a messenger to secretly communicate with their leaders. Their cover is ideal for intelligence operations; They listened to the ground and built a strong network while remaining close to the local Arab population. They were even able to carry out secret missions inside Beirut, especially the bombing of Hitler’s yacht, which would be given to King Farouk in Egypt.
The Zionist secret services have human resources that allow them to imitate any human: Poles, Germans, Arabs, because Jews have a dual identity. This is why they are good spies and explains one of the success factors of Israeli intelligence. However, Mizrahim rejected the appointment of agents or spies and instead chose the word “Mustarim” in Hebrew or “Arabist” in Arabic, meaning “those who have become like the Arabs.” The word “Arabists” has its roots in Jewish life in Arab countries. In Aleppo, for example, there are two Jewish communities, one is called Sephardic, the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, and the second settled in Aleppo, and speaks Arabic and among its culture, they are known as “Arabists”.
The Arab-Jewish group received intelligence training that included secret communications, commando tactics, the use of explosives, and extensive study of Islam and Arab customs so that they could live as Arabs. without arousing suspicion. Matti Friedman referred to his meeting with Isaac Shushan at his home in Tel Aviv, where Shushan worked between 1948 and 1950 under the name of Abdel Karim Muhammad Sidqi, along with other underground Jewish elements in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, and participated in the creation of an intelligence infrastructure of Israeli soldiers in Arab countries, and when he returned to Israel, he was enlisted in the Israeli army.
Friedman wants to provide insight into the demographics of occupying power, which have changed significantly over time.
In 1948, Isaac Shushan was asked to help assassinate Palestinian leader Sheikh Nimr al-Khatib, an aide to the Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Amin al-Husseini, who was on his way to Palestine from Lebanon. Soon, Shushan and another member of the Arab platoon were sent to a garage in Haifa to detonate a car bomb. As a result, at least five people were killed and many more were injured. Before returning from Beirut to occupy Palestine, Shushan met with relatives of those killed in the garage bombing in Haifa, and they talked freely with him, believing he was Palestinian. Shoshan and others also made a plan to assassinate Lebanese Prime Minister Riad al-Solh, but Israeli leaders canceled the operation. Israel held secret talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Riad El Solh in Paris in 1948. As these negotiations continued, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion decided to assassinate Solh. In fact, Israel’s decision to assassinate the Lebanese prime minister while talking to him raised some questions, which Palestinian University professor Mahmoud Mohareb answered in his study titled: “Secrets talks between Israel and Lebanese Prime Minister Riyadh. El Solh, meaning: Why did Israel decide to liquidate the settlement? What were the motives for this risky decision? What purpose did Israel seek to achieve in this murder? To answer these questions, we must consider some facts related to Israel’s strategy during Ben Gurion’s time on the Lebanese field during the 1948 war, as well as Ben Gurion’s desire to hold the Lebanese region. which was occupied by the army of Israel. during the war. Operation Hiram awaits formal entry into Israel. Ben-Gurion realized that Riad El Solh was the main reason for Anglo-American international pressure against Israel’s expansion into Lebanese-occupied territories, and Ben-Gurion knew of Solh’s activities from reports he received, particularly from Eliyahu Sasson, including conciliation efforts to sign an agreement in the UK. Eliyahu Sassoon learned on 11 October 1948 from Lebanese sources in Paris that Riad El Sol had discussed Israel’s occupation of Lebanese territory with the British delegation to the United Nations in Paris. According to information Sasson obtained and passed on to Ben-Gurion, Britain had promised military assistance to Lebanon if Israel occupied new Lebanese lands. In that case, when the Lebanese Government turned to Britain for help, British warships would appear within five hours in front of Beirut and Sidon; At the same time, the British Royal Air Force will land the aircraft at Lebanese airports.
Ben-Gurion’s decision to assassinate Riad El Solha, as well as available information on the Lebanese, regional and international scene provided by Muharib, indicates that the world at a critical point of historical change has become a barrier to Ben-Gurion’s search policy to maintain. and even annex the occupied Lebanese territory. Gamliel Cohen revealed in his book The First Secret Agents that the Israeli leadership continued its pursuit of removing the peace treaty until 1949, but the resources and capacity to kill him did not meet the expectations of the Israeli leadership. , as the work of planting mine. in the body of a dead dog in the path of a peaceful car failed, the latter was not recorded at the appointment and under heavy guard. An order was later issued to postpone the operation to avoid Lebanese-Israeli tensions, and then a final order was issued to cancel it in 1949.
In 1966, Shoshan was assigned to the Mossad (Israeli intelligence service), served in the Department of Special Operations and was involved in creating a program aimed at uniting Jewish spies with Arabs by creating a special spy unit. to collect intelligence from the heart. Arab countries. Members of this intelligence unit include Benjamin Netanyahu, a former prime minister, and former prime minister and defense minister Ehud Barak.
Like much that has been written about Israel and Palestine, Spies Without a State seems to be a sacred task, or, more precisely, another task that stands alone in the history of the Israeli army and intelligence service. Friedman wants to provide insight into the demographics of occupying power, which have changed significantly over time. He said that almost half of the Jewish population has “roots in the Islamic world.” According to him, the earlier leaders of Israel did not see or appreciate the influx of these people, like the spies featured in his historical report.
For centuries, Jews have lived in complete peace in the Islamic world, from North Africa to Iraq. But when Israel was created, they fled in large numbers, often, Friedman said, with the help of “underground immigration agents” who served them on ships or planes. In Israeli immigration camps, their Arab voices are silenced or killed by Yiddish by other Jews. Arab Jews helped form an occupying state in the lands of other Arabs and are now a major influence on Israeli culture.
* Egyptian writer
Source: Al Akhbar
Source: Al-Akhbar
