Victor Ostrovsky Victor John Ostrovsky is an author and artist who claims to be a former katsa ( case officer ) for the Israeli Mossad ( foreign intelligence service ) . He authored two non - fiction books about his service with the Mossad : " By Way of Deception " , a New York Times No . 1 bestseller in 1990 , and " The Other Side of Deception " several years later . Biography . Victor Ostrovsky was born in Edmonton , Alberta on November 28 , 1949 , and moved to Israel at the age of five . His mother , a gymnastics teacher by trade , was born in the British Mandate of Palestine . She volunteered with 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 ) to fight for Israel ' s independence from the British mandate . Ostrovsky ’ s father served with the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II as a tail gunner on a Lancaster bomber , taking part in more than twenty missions over Germany . His plane was shot down over Germany , but he managed to escape and return to active service . After the war , he joined the Israeli military to fight in the 1948 Arab – Israeli War , rising to command Sde Dov , 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 the Jewish National Fund ( JNF ) . Ostrovsky ’ s grandmother , a Russian immigrant , introduced him to noted Israeli artist Aharon Giladi , who lived on the same street , and who bought paints and canvasses for him . Giladi 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 192 out of 200 . At the age of 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 , after which he was made 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 . According to court papers filed by the Israeli government in an attempt to stop the publication of his book " By Way of Deception " , in 1982 , Ostrovsky was recruited by the Mossad and trained at the Mossad Academy north of Tel Aviv as a katsa ( case officer ) . In 1986 , he says he left the agency saying it was because of what he considered 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 . " By Way of Deception " . In 1990 , he published " By Way of Deception " to draw attention to the corruption and shortcomings he claims to have 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 . According to Victor Ostrovsky , a sayan ( pl . " sayanim " ) , Hebrew for " assistant " , is a term for a Mossad operative recruited from among the Jewish Diaspora to help the Mossad with operations outside Israel , utilising the capacity of their own nationality to procure assistance . A similar assessment has also been reported by a major British tabloid newspaper when it published ' At any one time , up to 50 senior Mossad officers are based in Europe , running a network of thousands of agents loyal to Israel . ' Many of Ostrovsky ' s claims have not been verified from other sources , nor have they been refuted , and arguments continue to rage over the credibility of his accounts . However , he was named in a lawsuit by the Israeli government , saying that he was part of the Mossad . Critics , such as Benny Morris , David Wise , and others , have argued that the book is essentially a novel and that a case officer would not have had access to so many operational secrets . They write that intelligence organizations practice strict compartmentalization of confidential or secretive information . Ostrovsky argues that their point is moot , as they themselves are outsiders , and the only information about the Mossad they have is from their supposed " sources " in the agency which have a very clear agenda . Ostrovsky also points out that the need to know rule is or at least was not closely followed in the Mossad , considering its small size and the need for case officers to fill many roles . Shortly before official publication of the book , the Israeli government filed lawsuits in both Canada and the United States seeking injunctions against publication . A judge in New York granted the request at a 1 a . m . hearing in his home . 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 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 ensure that lives were not placed in danger . Present career . Nowadays , 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 .