Victor Ostrovsky

Victor John Ostrovsky is a prominent artist, author and former case officer for the Mossad—Israel’s elite foreign intelligence service. He authored two non-fiction books about his service with the Mossad, including By Way of Deception, a New York Times No. 1 bestseller in 1990, and The Other Side of Deception several years later. He also authored two fictional novels, Lion of Judah and Black Ghosts, and several screenplays.

Ostrovsky was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on November 28, 1949, and moved to Israel at age five.

His mother, a gymnastics teacher by trade, was born in Palestine. She volunteered to the British Army (ITS) during World War II and drove trucks across the desert from Cairo to Jerusalem. After the war she joined the Haganah (Israel’s underground) in the struggle to liberate Israel from the British mandate.

Ostrovsky’s father served with the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II as a rear gunner on a Lancaster bomber and took part in more than twenty missions over Germany. His plane was shot down over Germany but he managed to escape and return to service. After the war, he joined the Israeli military to fight in the War of Independence, rising to command Shede Dove, an Air Force base in Israel.

His grandparents, Haim and Esther Margolin, settled in Palestine in 1912 after fleeing Russia, and Haim later served as Auditor General of JNF—the Jewish National Fund.

Ostrovsky’s talent as an artist was evident even before entering school and his grandmother, a Russian immigrant, had a major impact on Ostrovsky’s future career as a painter. Not only did she provide encouragement, she introduced him to noted Israeli artist Aharon Giladi who lived on the same street. The famous artist recognized the youngster’s talent immediately and purchased paints and canvasses for him. He mentored Ostrovsky for more than ten years.

Ostrovsky joined the Israeli Youth Brigade at 14 and quickly became an expert marksman, finishing second in a 1964 national shooting competition with a score of 198 out of 200. At age 17, he joined the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) after a minor eye condition ended his hopes of becoming a pilot. He was assigned to the Military Police and rose to command the Nablus Military Police Base, then became commanding officer of the Military Police West Bank Central Command.

After his service with the Military Police, Ostrovsky spent six years in the Israeli Navy. He was selected to attend the Staff and Command School and attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Ostrovsky was placed in charge of all Navy weapons testing. He helped introduce the Harpoon surface-to-surface missile to the Saar Missile Boats, as well as the Vulcan Phalanx anti-missile defense system.

In 1982, Ostrovsky was recruited by the Mossad and trained at the Mossad Academy north of Tel Aviv as a katsa (case officer). He has commented that as a Mossad cadet he experienced more action, terror and physical assault in two and a half years of training than many Special Forces soldiers will have in a career.

Ostrovsky’s initial zeal and enthusiasm with the Mossad slowly turned into frustration and disillusionment. In 1986 he left the agency citing what he considered to be significant mistakes made by the agency and cases of unnecessarily malicious actions by Mossad operatives. He also accused Mossad directors of knowingly making less than accurate reports to the nation’s political leadership.

In 1990, he published By Way of Deception to draw attention to the corruption and shortcomings he witnessed in the Mossad. Ostrovsky has repeatedly argued that intelligence-gathering agencies must be permitted certain operational freedoms, but that significantly increased governmental oversight of espionage activities is necessary. Without effective oversight, he has said, the Mossad cannot achieve its full potential and value.

Ostrovsky refused to use a pen name for the controversial book, saying that if he wanted to hide, he wouldn’t have written the book in the first place. Critics such as Benny Morris, David Wise and others have argued the book is essentially a novel and that a case officer would not have had access to so many operational secrets. [1] . They write that intelligence organizations practice strict compartmentalization of confidential or secretive information. [2]

Ostrovsky has responded that in reality the Mossad maintains very few case officers and they freely share information with one another, despite minimal official restrictions. Further, he points out a katsa has liberal access to the computer systems at Mossad headquarters so for a katsa, information is not compartmentalized. [3]

Shortly before official publication of the book, the Israeli government filed lawsuits in both Canada and the United States seeking injunctions against publication. In a shocking decision that outraged conventional media, a judge in New York granted the request at a 1 a.m. hearing in his home. Within 24 hours, the New York Supreme Court overturned his decision but the resulting publicity focused national attention on Ostrovsky’s story and guaranteed international success.

Concerns were expressed that by exposing certain prior Mossad operations, the book endangered the lives of agency personnel. Ostrovsky maintains he never placed anyone in danger because only first names or code names were used. Furthermore, Ostrovsky says the Mossad was privately allowed to see the book before publication to insure that lives were not placed in danger.

Ostrovsky and his wife, Bella Ostrovsky, also an artist, operate Ostrovsky Fine Art gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona. While he has painted many subjects, Ostrovsky is best known for his Metaphors of Espionage collection inspired by his days as a spy for the Mossad.

Bibliography, books

*"By Way of Deception (1990) - The making and unmaking of a Mossad Officer
*"The Other Side of Deception (1995) - A Rogue Agent Exposes the Mossad's Secret Agenda
*"Lion of Judah (1993)
*"Black Ghosts (1999)

Bibliography, articles (partial)

*Victor Ostrovsky: [http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/1297/9712007.html Bungled Amman Assassination Plot Exposes Rift Within Israeli Government Over Peace Negotiations] Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 1997, Pages 7-8, 92
*Victor Ostrovsky: [http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0198/9801013.htm Israel's "False Information Affair" Sheds New Light On Troubled Israeli and U.S. Relations With Syria] WRMEA, January/February 1998, Pages 13-14
*Victor Ostrovsky: " [http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0598/9805045.html At Age 50, Israel Should Admit Its Responsibility to Jonathan Pollard] ", WRMEA, May/June 1998, Page 45
*Victor Ostrovsky: " [http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/1298/9812048.html Israeli Finger on the Nuclear Trigger Could Turn the Next Israeli-Arab War Into a Conflagration] ", WRMEA, December 1998, pages 48, 92
*Victor Ostrovsky: " [http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/1298/9812019.html Crash of Cargo Plane in Holland Revealed Existence of Israeli Chemical and Biological Weapons Plant] ", WRMEA, December 1998, pages 19-20
*Victor Ostrovsky: " [http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0199/9901026.html Combat Units Manned by West Bank Settlers Puts Trojan Horse Within the Future Palestinian State] ", WRMEA, January/February 1999, pages 26, 94
*Victor Ostrovsky: " [http://www.wrmea.com/archives/Aug_Sept_2000/0010013.html The Israeli-Palestinian Summit: A Reality Check] ", WRMEA, August/September 2000, Page 13

References

External links

* [http://www.ostrovskyfineart.com/ Victor's art gallery]
* [http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/1097/9710037.html Victor's description of what happened after writing the books]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0wqHyhmzoI Death in Lillehammer] a documentary of the Lillehammer affair by Victor Ostrovsky
* [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/72615402.html?did=72615402&FMT=ABS&FMTS=FT&date=Sep+13%2C+1990&author=&desc=N.Y.+Judge+Bans+Book%3B+Injunction+Says+Spy+Expose%27+Would+Hurt+Israel N. Y. Judge Bans Book]