The Jewish Agency and Syria during the Arab Revolt in Palestine

Reviewed by: Muzaffar Iqbal, Center for Islamic Sciences, Canada

Published by: London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2023, 224pp. ISBN: 978-0755647637.

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Mahmoud Muhareb’s book is a rigorously documented, politically consequential, and historiographically urgent work of historical scholarship. An Associate Researcher at the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies in Doha, with prior leadership at Al-Quds University and a doctorate in political science from Reading University, Muhareb brings both disciplinary training and deep regional expertise to bear on the subject of Zionist-Arab relations during the Arab Revolt (1936–1939). In contrast to longstanding official Israeli and Syrian narratives, the book reveals an intricate network of covert diplomatic and intelligence activity between the Jewish Agency (JA) and key Syrian actors—especially members of the National Bloc, the Shahbandari opposition, and Druze leadership in Jabal al-Druze.

Structured in five clearly defined chapters, alongside an introduction, a conclusion, and a valuable appendix containing primary documentation in translation, the book offers a compellingly structured and evidence-rich narrative. The opening chapter, “The Zionist Intelligence Service: The Beginnings of Espionage on Arabs,” traces the development of Zionist intelligence operations from their roots in post-World War I activity in Damascus to their expansion into a full-scale Arab Affairs division by the 1930s. The subsequent chapters examine specific zones of Zionist infiltration and engagement: contacts with the Syrian National Bloc (Chapter 2), the orchestration of propaganda and disinformation in Arabic media (Chapter 3), deeper political penetration into the Shahbandari opposition (Chapter 4), and the cultivation of relationships with Druze elites in Syria (Chapter 5).