Opinion |
'The Queen’s File': How the Mossad Got to King Hussein of Jordan’s Mother
His grandfather was assassinated, his father incapacitated. Now Hussein was king of Jordan, and Israel needed a covert, deniable but direct line to the palace in Amman. Newly declassified, here's the surprisingly intimate route its agents took
Call him "Aleph" – that’s what his colleagues in the London Station did. Not the abbreviated “A,” a potential cause of confusion, as in Hebrew the letter could indicate a word beginning with E, I, O or U. So use "Aleph" – ambiguous enough, as it could mean an Avi or Eli or any number of other possibilities, perfect for 1960 and the height of the Cold War, so cold that John Le Carre's spy did not even try to come in from it.
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