Operation

David Mandel's novel "Operation Balaam's mule" is a satire on the current anti-Israel campaign of delegitimization and false accusations of apartheid and genocide. The author uses, with ingenuity and display of humor, the literary technique of the roman clef presenting under the mantle of fiction situations and people some with fictitious names and some with their real names.The character of the financier George Tzures, who hires a group of people to accuse and condemn Israel, is based on the anti-Zionist billionaire George Soros who uses his fortune to support anti-Israeli organizations and campaigns. Professor Asher Reubeni of the novel, anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian fanatic, is inspired by Professor Ilan Pappe, self-exiled to a provincial university in England, author of history books that falsify and distort the historical facts.Simultaneously, "Operation Balaam's mule" is a contemporary version of the biblical account of Balaam, the seer who was hired to curse the Israelite people, but ended up blessing him.