Reviews

Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations by Ronen Bergman

guiltyfeat's review against another edition

5.0

Shocking and thrilling, exhilarating and depressing. I can't imagine a better researched version of these stories and the people in them than this giant book. When you seem to have seen so much of the tradecraft contained in these pages in fictional contexts, it's hard to remember that these techniques were developed by real people to solve real problems.

While the morality behind some (many?) of the operations described here remains questionable and their cumulative effect on history debatable, the overall impact of this collected history is awe-inspiring though not always in a good way.

stephang18's review against another edition

4.0

Engrossing history of targeted assassinations by Israeli intelligence services. It's hard to know who to trust when it comes to books written about Israel in terms of the author's slant. Bergman is a little bit to the left - just enough to be mildly annoying at times, particularly after 2000 and he finishes the book with a three page screed against Netanyahu that is really out of place here. Still, clear explanations with a cast of hundreds of players. Worth reading.

miguelf's review against another edition

5.0

Despite the initial hesitance to read this based solely on the cover art and title (looking & sounding like a cheesy Tom Clancy novel), this comprehensive historical overview of the Israeli secret service and targeted killing organization was engrossing and extremely wide-ranging from Israel’s founding to recent operations in the 2010’s. In addition to its scope the author is seemingly fair to balance the political realities (good and bad and of course there’s a lot of bad) against the political sensitivities of the Israeli State. Throughout there are layers of nuance in terms of whether one is looking at the moral high ground or its opposite depending on their motivation and the target. Over time it becomes more and more difficult for the Israeli’s to maintain any kind of moral superiority as the targeting takes on less meaning for those making the life and death decisions. It’s also a great overview of the history of Israel itself.