Iosi, the Remorseful Spy

Journalists Lewin and Lutzky deliver a riveting narrative of espionage, terrorism, and Jewish history in this eye-opening account. Toggling between the perspectives of Lewin, Lutzky, and undercover Argentine Federal Police agent José Pérez—whom the journalists interviewed extensively—the narrative hinges on the bombings of the Israeli embassy in Argentina in 1992 and the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association in 1994. In the years before the attacks, Pérez infiltrated the Jewish community in Buenos Aires, where he took on the Hebrew name Iosi, and filed reports about an alleged plot to establish a new Jewish state in Argentina. During his mission, Pérez married a Jewish woman, converted to Judaism, and concluded that there was no threat from the community. After the bombings, he was ordered to leave Buenos Aires, and he feared that the government used his intelligence to help organize the antisemitic attacks, though they officially blamed Iran. Over the years, his remorse grew, and with the aid of Lewin and Lutzky, he attempted to inform government officials and Jewish organizations of his doubts, but received little interest. Lewin and Lutzky don’t provide any concrete answers to the core mystery, but they pace the action like a thriller and offer fascinating windows into tradecraft and Argentina’s Jewish diaspora. It’s a crackling real-life page-turner. (July)