Victor Ostrovsky

Victor Ostrovsky was born in 1949 in Edmonton

Victor Ostrovsky was born on November 28, 1949, in Edmonton, Alberta, to a Jewish family. His father served in the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II and later fought for Israel. Ostrovsky moved to Israel as a child and grew up in Holon.

He joined the Youth Brigade and took second place in a national shooting competition in 1964. An eye condition ended his plan to become a pilot. He served in the Military Police and later in the Israeli Navy, reaching the rank of major.

He then joined the Mossad as a case officer trainee and was dismissed after a short period. In 1990 he published By Way of Deception, a memoir of his time in the Mossad. Israel sought court orders to block it, and after the attempt failed the book reached first place on the New York Times bestseller list.

Israeli security officials and critics said much of the book was false, while Ostrovsky said he wanted to warn the Israeli public about Mossad methods. He later published The Other Side of Deception. He lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he paints, ran a gallery and hosts a weekly radio show.