Eli Cohen is most definitely the inspiration for Yossi/Halim in Jericho Mosaic. It makes you wonder how much inside knowledge Whittemore had when writing the book. At the time when I first read Jericho Mosaic I was unaware that Whittemore was a former CIA operative, but I recall seeing a TV documentary many years ago about Eli Cohen and thinking at that time that his story was remarkably similar to that of Yossi/Halim.

Whittemore's knowledge of the Middle East in terms of history and politics was phenomenal and the books seem so relevant to these present troubled times. They provide answers to all those who question, why is this happening to the world?

Thanks for providing the link to Eli Cohen's history. I have read it before and found it most interesting in terms of tracing the history of the Middle East in terms of the Jerusalem Quartet

--Previous Message--
: I have been reading Six days of war : June
: 1967 and the making of the modern Middle
: East by Michael B. Oren. Oren tells a
: story about Eli Cohen, an Israeli spy.
: Reading it I was very clearly reminded of
: Jericho Mosaic. Such an echo reflects
: Whittemore's CIA background. Interested
: readers might look at this Web site:
:
: http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/biography/Eli_Cohen.html
: Although the fiction differs from the reality
: at several important points it is an
: interesting source for the character of
: Halim.
:
: Keith Morgan
:
:
: