Mar 04 2007
Former mobster writes tell-all about the Israeli mafia in NY
A former mobster has written a tell-all book, for the first time ever exposing the inner workings of an Israeli gang that took over the New York drug trade for a brief period in the eighties.
Ron Gonen, who has spent the past 18 years in the US Witness Protection Program, has teamed up with author Dave Copeland to offer an insider’s glance into a parallel universe of crime, murder and deceit.
Ron Gonen. Photo: Courtesy
Gonen, who spoke with The Jerusalem Post from an undisclosed location, says he was kicked out of the program earlier this month because he violated the terms of his agreement by co-authoring the book. Undeterred, the Russian-born former drug dealer and burglar said that he is writing a second work - his memoirs - in Hebrew. He hopes that this book will lead to a movie deal.
After Gonen and his wife Honey published an advertisement on Craig’s List in November 2004 seeking a writer to put his story into print, Copeland and Gonen began a collaboration that lasted more than two years and produced Blood and Volume, set to come out next week.
Copeland, who has never been to Israel, said that the book has earned attention prior to its release. “The pre-orders have been pretty good, 80% of first printing has already been sold,” he said.
But the book may cost Gonen more than he banked on. Beyond the risk of angering his old enemies, Gonen may soon find himself a persona non grata in the US.
According to Copeland, Gonen was given a permit that allowed him to work in the US as part of the Witness Protection Program, but the card is set to expire in May. Now, Gonen’s work permit may not be renewed and he could be deported to Israel.
Although the book mostly concerns New York in the eighties, Gonen’s story actually begins in the Soviet Union, four decades earlier, where his grandfather was in the black market. As a young child during the Stalinist period, Gonen says, he “grew up with the knowledge that the knock on the door could be a very serious knock.”
When he was nine, Gonen’s family moved to Israel. They were settled by the government in Beersheba, but later relocated to Holon. Eventually, he was sent to Kibbutz Ein Shemer.
But Gonen says that he was expelled after two years for breaking into the kibbutz’s storehouses and stealing clothing, which he distributed to his bunkmates.
