Sylvia Rafael

"There is a lack of quiet in Sylvia that craves for action.... She knows that she is special and that she possesses unusual and varied abilities." -- From the Mossad's psychological evaluation of Sylvia RafaelWhen Moti Kfir, head of the Academy for Special Operations of the Mossad, first interviewed Sylvia Rafael in a coffee shop, he knew she would make a great combatant for Israel's intelligence agency. She was outgoing, resourceful, brilliant, and had a talent for bonding with others. When Kfir warned her that the mysterious job they'd met to discuss could be dangerous, she simply sat back comfortably in her chair and smiled.Sylvia Rafael is the page-turning account of a young, dedicated agent as told by the man who trained her. Drawing on extensive research and interviews, authors Ram Oren and Moti Kfir tell the story of Rafael's rise to prominence within the Mossad and her intelligence work trying to locate Ali Hassan Salameh -- the leader of Palestine's Black September organization and the mastermind behind the murder of eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Her team's misidentification of their mark would eventually lead to her arrest and imprisonment for murder and espionage.Now available in English for the first time, Sylvia Rafael offers new insight into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, its history, and its human cost. It is a gripping, authentic spy story about a fearless defender of the Jewish people.

"[A] compelling account of the inner life of a woman who spent so much of her training in the shadows." -- Chicago Tribune, "A thrilling, engrossing story, fully the equal of action novels. Sylvia Rafael is a welcome and highly readable effort to fill the void in our ordinary knowledge." -- Jonathan M. House, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, "It is a gripping spy thriller, and it is also a revealing portrait of a woman who made painful personal sacrifices in order to serve Zionism and her adopted country of Israel." -- The Times of Israel

Ram Oren is an Israeli journalist, publisher, and author of more than twenty-six books.Moti Kfir held a number of senior positions in the Special Operations Unit of Mossad, including Director of the School for Special Operations. He was awarded a doctorate in history by the Paris Sorbonne, France.