Operation Joktan by Amir Tsarfati and Steve Yohn (2021) – A Nir Tavor Mossad Thriller, Book 01

It’s always fun, stumbling upon new authors who write stuff you want to read. My dad gifted me all five Mossad thrillers from this Christian, co-author team, and I’m excited to read them.

I’ve long been a fanboy of Joel C. Rosenberg, another Jewish Christian who himself writes Israel-focused thrillers and nonfiction books—and who also runs another all-Israel news site to boot. Now that I’ve learned about Behold Israel, I’m thinking maybe Amir Tsarfati is Rosenberg’s professional doppelganger. That intrigues me.

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Quick Summary of Operation Joktan

This first novel covers a huge swath of time in the life of Mossad Agent Nir Tavor, from his first experience with violence in South Africa to his role as team leader on a mission to stop a terrorist attack in Abu Dhabi. Through all those intervening years, though, we get snapshots of other important missions that develop backgrounds either for his enemies or his partners.

Key to most scenes is the presence and influence of South African supermodel and expert hacker Nicole, to whom Nir grows inexorably attached. This book is certainly not a romance, yet romantic (and even religious) tensions do arise between these characters, giving a far more human feel to what might otherwise be just another spy novel about assassinations and international intrigue.

A Few Words on the Writing

There’s just something about this book that makes it feel like a first novel, as if in some portions, the authors are trying too hard. I wouldn’t call it “bad writing”, but noticeable. It’s most obvious in the scenes of attempted comic relief.

Lahov’s character, for example, was supposed to come across as the annoyingly talkative member of the team that people both love and hate. Problem is, in a book filled with technicalities and explanations, he’s actually the most mature-sounding character in the bunch, while the rest come across in their reactions to him as petulant children.

Elsewhere, the writing plods, but I suppose in a good way. One entire series of chapters, for example, prepares us to witness a well-planned assassination, and while it seems to drag on forever and is borderline boring, it’s actually so full of detail that it becomes intriguing and therefore (in my mind at least) suspenseful. That’s a tough tightrope to walk, but I think these authors managed it well. It reminded me somewhat of Lionel Davidson’s style of suspense.

Incidentally, while I’m comparing it to other books I’ve read, I can’t ignore Isser Harel’s The House on Garibaldi Street (1975). If you’ve never read that true-Massad story, I believe I have the responsibility to say “You must.” The fallout of WWII and Auschwitz gets no better than that book.

I also appreciated that this book isn’t afraid to name names, as some thrillers are. They discuss “the President’s son-in-law” as one negotiating peace in the Middle East. That’s not a figment of fiction (and would be laughable if it were, when you think about it!), so clearly these Mossad spies are living in what’s supposed to be the real world. I like that aspect.

The Morality of Spies and Political Assassinations

This particular discussion might veer off into uncomfortable territory, but it’s one that sort of hits home for me. Recently, our family has enjoyed watching through the 5 seasons of Chuck on TV. Apart from the eye-veering moments of the leggy spy who sometimes doesn’t like to wear all her clothes, it’s a fun, suspenseful, mysterious, and humorous spy show that we all really enjoy.

Our smart little daughter (13) loves martial arts and thinks that maybe she’d like to be a spy one day (every dad’s dream, obviously), and yet when we watch Chuck and Sarah’s wild, varying and fictional spy situations, we parents feel like we have to tether them to reality: “Well, it doesn’t actually happen that way.”

In a recent episode, Chuck had to undergo—and Sarah of the CIA had to relive—the “Red Test,” which is supposedly the time in every CIA agent’s training when he or she has to kill another human being. That’s when our discussions got really hairy, but I was so glad I was reading this Christian spy novel at the time! There’s a fantastic line from Nir who recalls his own first kill during an attack in South Africa, where he says:

If someone is intent on killing others, then it’s incumbent on those who can do something about it to stop them. (32)

While this isn’t necessarily “a license to kill,” it’s pretty darn close, and it’s the same reasoning required of Christians who enlist in whatever military they serve. To enlist is to open oneself willingly to the possibility that he may have to kill another human being in an effort to protect his homeland.

The Bible (particularly the Old Testament) is riddled with stories of heroic warriors who had to do just that—and the God who commanded such acts has not changed. Contrary to popular opinion: Jesus is the God the Old Testament. He is not some effeminate, progressive pacifist.

Yes, Jesus taught his followers a whole lot about love of enemies and non-reactionary living. At the same time, he also upheld the role of government to uphold justice, punish the wicked, etc. Jesus came once to bring peace, not the sword; and He’s coming again to bring vengeance on his enemies. And like the Psalmists before us, we praise Him for it, for “Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.”

Now this obviously doesn’t mean that I want my little girl to join the CIA and start killing people! But as far as dealing with the morality of taking the life of a murderous enemy through enlistment and war or agency and sanctioned political assassinations, it’s at least not a hard-fast “No.”

I like how the authors tie Nir’s responsibility in this regard to that of Jael in the Old Testament (after whom he names his diamond-trading company):

Imagine, Nir had thought. Yael was going about her daily business when suddenly she was thrust into the position where the fate of her people depended on her actions. Rather than shy away like Barak, she stepped up. She’d taken a risk and saved her tribe. Naming his company after this strong woman was Nir’s way of reminding himself that at any moment, he, too, could be called away from his everyday life and put into a position where the fate of his nation was at stake. (117)

And I don’t think “stake” is a misnomer here.

Conclusion

It was hard for me to think of this as a Christian book, but the Truth does eventually eek into the story through a Gentile by about Chapter 24. I appreciate that this book about (and possibly for) Jews doesn’t immediately introduce “Jesus the Messiah” through a Jew, simply because that would not have been as believable. The authors kept the illusion alive for me as I read, which makes me look forward to the second book in the series, By Way of Deception (2022).

I’m also kind of partial to the way these guys write about food in all the nations their characters visit, so I try not to read it on an empty stomach. Judging by this first installment, I think I’m going to be fan of the this Nir Tavor series.

©2026 E.T.

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