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Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations by Ronen Bergman
alexisrt's review
5.0
This is a very detailed history of Israel's targeted assassination program, and to a lesser extent of its intelligence services. Ronen Bergman was able to interview many of the figures involved, and it's sobering and fascinating reading. Bergman doesn't shy from a moral judgment of the program: that although it was superficially successful, it came at a huge moral cost, and that Israeli leaders became overly reliant on it as a tool to avoid first war and then political negotiations. At the same time, he's aware of what drove them to use the tactic--a knowledge that Israel, especially in its early years, could not win an open war, and that other countries would not back them up (brutally illustrated in the story about Munich).
cbh's review
Seemed interesting, but the subject matter oddly didn't appeal to me at this moment.
katie_skean's review
Can't believe I finished it. It did have a lot of jaw-dropping information that's good for people to know. I just had this feeling throughout that it wasn't really as impartial as some reviews said and that the author was pretty sympathetic to his interview subjects. He did try to be balanced but he seemed a little too excited about all the cloak and dagger stuff sometimes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
thisisstephenbetts's review
5.0
Astounding, overwhelming non-fiction book about the Israeli secret services, and specifically their history of assassination. It is absolutely packed with detail and data — so many stories of various operations, by all sides, successful and not. Bergman keeps his tone mostly factual and non partisan — although revealing so much of Israel's secrets automatically puts him at odds with her institutions. He treads a fine line between sympathy and condemnation, again, for both sides — recognising the deep-rooted causes of the conflicts. He is absolutely excoriating, though, about Ariel Sharon, and his efforts to undermine any peaceful initiatives, and hence perpetuate a tragic and vastly damaging and deadly conflict (Benjamin Netanyahu does not fare too well either). In the end, it is a deeply sad book — and makes one want to cry for the missed opportunities, and all the casually slaughtered innocents.