By Richard Lipez, Special to The Washington Post The English Teacher By Yiftach Reicher Atir. Translated by Philip Simpson. Penguin. “The English Teacher” is the story of a Mossad operative written by a former Israeli intelligence officer. It’s not an autobiography but rather a thriller, based loosely on facts, or as its author, Yiftach Reicher Atir, writes in his introductory note, “a true story, of real life operatives that are wholly made up, and actual missions that never happened.” Atir provides an astonishing look at Middle Eastern spycraft.