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Colonel Muki Betser was one of Israel's premier special-warfare commanders and counterterrorists for twenty-five years. In this riveting autobiography, he recounts the inner workings of Israel's elite forces, which until now no high-ranking military officer has been allowed to reveal. Secret Soldier provides an intimate, firsthand account of Israel's previously classified counterterrorist defense missions. Beginning with new revelations about the Six-Day War, Betser tells of the kidnapping of five Syrian generals, reports on the execution of Black September commanders, gives us the first on-the-scene report of the raid on Entebbe, and exposes the harsh realities of a quarter century of counterterrorist warfare.
Muki Betser is a scion of Israel. His pioneering grandparents, along with Moshe Dayan's father, settled modern Israel's first cooperative farm in 1922 in the Jezreel Valley. Life was hard and rugged, and Muki grew up toughened by the three values that ruled there: settling the land, defending the land, and remaining stoic in the face of adversity. These qualities informed his conduct as Israel's bravest commando.
Set against three decades of ongoing conflict, Muki Betser's story underscores the daunting dilemmas the Israel Defense Forces and the country faced. A natural leader himself, he counseled his country's most eminent leaders, including Shamir and Rabin, then executed crucial missions as one of Israel's most intrepid troubleshooters. Betser's close relationship to Israel's top political and military leadership, his extraordinary contribution to his country's national security, and his unassailable integrity have put him in the unique position of being trusted to write the first - and only - inside account of Israel's elite fighting units.
