Sylvia Rafael: The Life and Death of a Mossad Spy

A Personal Afterword

249 A Personal Afterword Moti Kfir No story ever truly ends, and no account of a person’s life can be all-inclusive. Did we manage in this book to portray Sylvia Rafael in all her many facets? Do the events described here portray who she truly was? Not necessarily. During my years of working in the Mossad, friends often expressed curiosity about the secret operator, seeking to understand what makes such a person stand out from others. In recent years some of our greatest heroes have been revealed through the media ,฀books,฀and฀films:฀Eli฀Cohen,฀Wolfgang฀Lotz,฀Baruch฀Mizrahi,฀ Ya’akova Cohen, Max Bennett, and now Sylvia Rafael. Are their lives better understood now than they were before? Are their motivations, their life decisions, and the path that led them to become what they were any clearer today? I doubt it. I am not an expert on the human psyche. All I am able to do is describe a sequence of events, leaving it to the readers to interpret these events as they will. Heroism฀ is฀ always฀ a฀ major฀ actor฀ on฀ the฀ stage฀ of฀ history,฀ but฀ when we meet a person who is destined to be called a “hero,” even though he or she never intended to be one, we encounter a human being฀first฀and฀foremost.฀Have฀they฀achieved฀greater฀self-realization฀ than other individuals? Not necessarily. Do they and those that sent them—who have often become myths in their own right—belong to a special category? Could their parents and teachers have predicted what turn their lives would take? I doubt it. True dramas are a combination of actions, decisions, constraints, challenges, and sleepless nights. I was lucky enough to meet and work with people who featured in such dramas. None of them resembled another. Some were Spartan introverts who went through life observing rather than acting . They had superlative powers of observation and, after years of฀experience,฀were฀able฀to฀size฀up฀people฀and฀situations฀quickly฀ and accurately. Such people felt comfortable far from the public eye, 250 A Personal Afterword never seeking fame or recognition. They didn’t consider their lives to be the slightest bit extraordinary. Sylvia was cut from a different cloth. Even when she was living in the shadows she stood out, like a leading actress on the stage of life, relishing all its pleasures, always pushing forward, like someone ฀who฀realizes฀that฀her฀time฀is฀limited฀and฀that฀she฀still฀has฀so฀ much to accomplish. Her high intelligence made her brilliant at problem solving. She had wisdom and extensive knowledge in a large number of fields. She could get close to, and win the trust of, a wide variety of people. She had a restless curiosity, resourcefulness in times of stress, and a strong sense of belonging to a people and being part of its history. Even though she wasn’t Jewish according to law, she identified deeply with and felt totally committed to the Jewish people and its future. She never asked, “Why me?” She knew why. As a volunteer, she was ready to make any sacrifice and chose to take part in an impossible mission that brought out the very best in her. Only a part of what Sylvia was could be told here. All the rest will come to light in the fullness of time. This book is dedicated to the memory of Sylvia Rafael—the woman and the clandestine combatant—and to all the other combatants , past and present, wherever they are. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Ram Oren, who has succeeded, in this book and in others, to describe the great historical dramas that enrich our lives as a series of events that can be understood and appreciated by a wide audience. To my wife, Nira, for being there, then and now. To my parents, Bella and Yehuda Karpov, who always asked me about the nature of my work and who are now finally able to know something about it. To my daughters, Shirley and Efrat, for the love, patience, and tolerance they have shown, despite the many days when I was away from home and couldn’t tell them the reasons why. To Yoske Yariv, my commander and friend, who demonstrated to me that intelligence work is both an art and a craft. To my friends, for giving me constant support and encouragement . To Or, Tal, May, Gal, and Omer, my grandchildren, in hopes that this book serves them...