The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel

by Uri Bar-Joseph

Overview

A NETFLIX ORIGINAL MOVIE

THE BEST INTELLIGENCE BOOK for 2017 by The American Association of Former Intelligence Officers

A gripping feat of reportage that exposes—for the first time in English—the sensational life and mysterious death of Ashraf Marwan, an Egyptian senior official who spied for Israel, offering new insight into the turbulent modern history of the Middle East.

As the son-in-law of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser and a close advisor to his successor, Anwar Sadat, Ashraf Marwan had access to the deepest secrets of the country’s government. But Marwan himself had a secret: He was a spy for the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service. Under the codename “The Angel,” Marwan turned Egypt into an open book for the Israeli intelligence services—and, by alerting the Mossad in advance of the joint Egyptian-Syrian attack on Yom Kippur, saved Israel from a devastating defeat.

Drawing on meticulous research and interviews with many key participants, Uri Bar Joseph pieces together Marwan’s story. In the process, he sheds new light on this volatile time in modern Egyptian and Middle Eastern history, culminating in 2011’s Arab Spring. The Angel also chronicles the discord within the Israeli government that brought down Prime Minister Golda Meir.

However, this nail-biting narrative doesn’t end with Israel’s victory in the Yom Kippur War. Marwan eluded Egypt’s ruthless secret services for many years, but then somebody talked. Five years later, in 2007, his body was found in the garden of his London apartment building. Police suspected he had been thrown from his fifth-floor balcony, and thanks to explosive new evidence, Bar-Joseph can finally reveal who, how, and why.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062420107
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	08/02/2016
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Uri Bar-Joseph is a professor of political science at the University of Haifa. He is the author of several books about intelligence, Israel's national security strategy, and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Neil Shah is an Audie Award-nominated narrator and AudioFile Earphones Award winner who has recorded over one hundred audiobooks. A classically trained actor with an MFA from the Old Globe/University of San Diego program, Neil has appeared off-Broadway and on regional stages, as well as in film and television.

Table of Contents

Cast of Characters vii

Prologue: The Funeral and the Mystery 1

Chapter 1 Cairo, 1944-1970: Beginnings 7

Chapter 2 London, 1970: Contact 33

Chapter 3 April 1971: Enter Military Intelligence 55

Chapter 4 May 1971: Liftoff 76

Chapter 5 The Dream of Every Spy Agency on Earth 100

Chapter 6 Sadat's Emissary for Special Affairs 133

Chapter 7 Egypt Girds for War 152

Chapter 8 Final Preparations and an Intermezzo in Rome 176

Chapter 9 Signing at Sundown on Saturday 194

Chapter 10 Dovecote: Warning and War 219

Chapter 11 The Rise and Fall of Ashraf Marwan 237

Chapter 12 An Angel in the City, a Son-In-Law Exposed 269

Chapter 13 Fallen Angel 298

Acknowledgments 327

Notes 331

Bibliography 347

Index 357

Editorial Reviews

For anyone who really knew Ashraf Marwan, it was probably not a surprise when he fell from his apartment balcony in June 2007…What led to his death was the bigger mystery. Was it suicide? Or was he trying to escape the two men who some witnesses said were also on his balcony that day? And if it was murder, there were numerous possibilities…Scotland Yard never cracked the case, and neither does Uri Bar-Joseph…in his trenchant, serpentine account of the Egyptian's years as a spy for Israel. But The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel is so packed with jaw-dropping and intimate details about the life of a man Mossad code-named "the Angel" that it seems only a minor failing that Bar-Joseph wasn't able to nail down the exact circumstances of how that life ended…Bar-Joseph has done a laudable job synthesizing the voluminous Israeli government information about Marwan, always keeping his eye for some of the outrageous—even absurd—turns of events in a high-stakes drama.

The New York Times Book Review - Mark Mazzetti

Eye-opening…. A lucid and compelling glimpse into the world of espionage and the functioning—or malfunctioning—of leaders.

Wall Street Journal

Few things satisfy the appetite for suspense like a true-life spy story as thrilling and intriguing as the best fictional ones.… Bar-Joseph’s writing, and this translation, offer an extremely compelling tale.

Haaretz

This is the best spy story I’ve ever read—and it’s all true. Uri Bar-Joseph weaves a suspenseful tale of the dangerous life—and mysterious death—of a spy who did nothing less than change the course of history in the Middle East. You won’t be able to put it down.

Howard Blum

Ashraf Marwan was the most valuable source the Mossad had ever recruited.… Bar-Joseph’s fascinating book is an accurate and reliable account of the career of one of the 20th century’s most important spies.

Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Zvi Zamir

Remarkable…. Partly a spy thriller, The Angel is also an invaluable account of major historical figures.

The Weekly Standard online

A trenchant account of the career of a master spy.

New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice

06/01/2016
Israeli University of Haifa political science professor, author (The Watchman Fell Asleep), and former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intelligence analyst Bar-Joseph presents the history of the rise, clandestine exploits, immense success, and eventual fall (from the balcony of his fifth floor London apartment in 2007) of Ashraf Marwan. Marwan was the son-in-law to former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, adviser to Anwar Sadat, and agent for the Israeli Mossad in the critical era of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. This book, one of several written about Marwan in the past dozen years, establishes beyond doubt that Marwan was the spy who most benefitted Israel in the 1970s and 1980s, and not a double agent, as contended by his family and Egyptian defenders. Bar-Joseph also demonstrates that the Israeli military was caught by surprise on Yom Kippur in 1973 owing to their inability to believe and act effectively on what Marwan clearly reported to them, and that Eli Zeira, the then-head of IDF military intelligence, was responsible both for that intelligence failure and the much later exposure of Marwan as a spy. VERDICT This work will be of great interest to readers trying to understand the byzantine world of international intelligence as it affects Israel.—Joel Neuberg, Santa Rosa Junior Coll. Lib., CA

Library Journal

2016-05-05
A detailed biography of Ashraf Marwan (1944-2007), an Egyptian national and Israel's most vital informant. According to Bar-Joseph (Political Science/Univ. of Haifa; The Watchman Fell Asleep: The Surprise of Yom Kippur and Its Sources, 2005, etc.), Marwan was an ordinary man with grand ambitions. His frustration with Egyptian politics led him to contact Mossad, Israel's intelligence network. What is surprising is how early this occurs in the book. In the first chapter, the author covers his parentage, youth, marriage to President Gamal Abdel Nasser's daughter, and daring decision to betray his own government. Equally surprising is how difficult this process was, given the complex Cold War landscape; at first, his plea was ignored. In order to explain this landscape to his readers, Bar-Joseph dedicates much of the book to the bellicose relationship between Egypt and Israel, spotlighting the importance of Marwan's espionage. As Mossad director Zvi Zamir once put it, Marwan was "the greatest source we ever had." The most intriguing part of the book is the third act, when Marwan is slowly unmasked. Without a doubt, he helped save innumerable Israeli lives, but he is also described as an egotist and thrill-seeker, and he was clearly paid well for his services. Early on, Bar-Joseph addresses the big question: why he would do something so dangerous and unpatriotic. "His behavior included a need for stimulus, which often drives people to take risks, whether physical or emotional," he writes. "Some people take up rock climbing, skydiving, or bungee jumping. But Marwan was not drawn to the sporting life; instead he indulged in both gambling and, later, in unsavory business deals; or in taking needless risks in his contacts with the Israelis." The author writes from an Israeli perspective, but he shows great empathy for a man who was in turn respected, reviled, and almost certainly murdered. Well-researched and candidly told, this book deserves shelf space next to volumes on Vladimir Vetrov and Kim Philby.

Kirkus Reviews

Trenchant, serpentine. . . . Packed with jaw-dropping and intimate details. . . . Bar-Joseph has done a laudable job of synthesizing the voluminous Israeli government information about Marwan, always keeping his eye for some of the outrageous—even absurd—turns of events in a high stakes drama.” —New York Times

From the Publisher

Uri Bar-Joseph, a political science professor at the University of Haifa and an expert on Israeli intelligence, has written a fast-paced narrative that rivals the best spy fiction. The critical difference is that the story is real.

San Francisco Gate

A fascinating read, possibly the best study ever written on espionage and the Yom Kippur War.

Jewish Chronicle

Bar-Joseph addresses the key question that for decades has haunted the intelligence community as much as the public….[he] draws a historical and a psychological picture of Marwan that analyses his motivations.

AlJazeera.com

Trenchant, serpentine…. Packed with jaw-dropping and intimate details…. Bar-Joseph has done a laudable job of synthesizing the voluminous Israeli government information about Marwan, always keeping his eye for some of the outrageous—even absurd—turns of events in a high stakes drama.

New York Times Book Review

Captivating…. A tale of espionage at the highest level.

National Interest.org

This is a remarkable story of Israel’s greatest spy ever, and an intelligence disaster that almost doomed the state. Deeply reported and powerfully told, The Angel is a must-read espionage saga.

David Hoffman

Gripping . . . . Drawing on research and extensive interviews with people who experienced events firsthand, The Angel sheds new light on a crucial period in the history of modern Egypt and the Middle East, as well as the origins of 2011’s Arab Spring.

Jewish Book Council

Required reading—as a terrible warning—for everyone involved in intelligence.… A terrific book. It has all the tension, plot twists, and dramatis personae of a spy novel, only the story is real.

Washington Free Beacon

This remarkable book reveals to us a hidden history, showing how little we actually know of events we thought we understood. One of the most exciting—and surprising—books on Israel I’ve read.

Yossi Klein Halevi

A fascinating read into the wilderness of mirrors of espionage, with a laser focus on one of Israel’s greatest spies.… A tremendous case study for any student of intelligence, geo-politics, or history. The book should be required reading for any special agent or intelligence officer.

Fred Burton

[Ashraf Marwan’s] intriguing life and suspicious death are detailed in Uri Bar-Joseph’s fascinating new book…. which features extensive research and interviews with those who knew Marwan.

Jewish News

Makes a convincing case that Marwan not only never misled the Israelis, but was actually astoundingly valuable to them.… Highly detailed…. Rewarding to anyone interested in Middle East intrigue.… Fascinating.

Dan Raviv

Eye-opening…. A lucid and compelling glimpse into the world of espionage and the functioning—or malfunctioning—of leaders.

Wall Street Journal

A trenchant account of the career of a master spy.

New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

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