Scan barcode
Reviews
Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations by Ronen Bergman
jc_rod's review
4.0
One of the best most exciting books I’ve ever read. Dark and impressive, gives you a perspective of Israel and its geopolitical reality that an outsider wouldn’t normally get. Also contains an interesting reflection of the subversion of democracy to shadow governments under the umbrella of security and survival of the state.
bethanyhyde's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating book, although very long and hard to follow at times. Not the kind of book you can read for five minutes at a time - requires a fair amount of concentration.
blueskygreentreesyellowsun's review against another edition
4.0
One of the surprises in this book was the number of times Israel's intelligence community (the Mossad, Shin Bet, et al) completely botched a job. Going into the book I had unconsciously imagined that Israeli spies and commandos were complete masters of the field, and my pre-conceived image was only brought into my conscious mind as the book began tearing it to shreds. I don't know if it was more fun reading about the failures or the successes; either way I was fascinated.
mkesten's review
5.0
This book has remarkable research about the tactical success of Israeli intelligence agencies, the tragic strategic failures of the Israeli government, and the clearest arguments I have ever read for compromise on the Palestinian territories.
No matter the ingenious methods Mossad used to corral Israel’s enemies abroad, there was always another enemy lurking.
This isn’t just the story about Israel’s fabled spy service. It’s about the triumvirate of intelligence services: AMAN, the military intelligence directorate, Shin Bet, its domestic security agency, and Mossad, the agency keeping tabs on Israel’s enemies abroad.
And unlike the divisions between US intelligence and operations arms, in Israel the intelligence divisions are often tasked with covert campaigns, such as the targeted assassinations discussed in this book.
In the scope of this book, we learn the agencies undertook about 1,000 targeted killings, a period where the US secretly attempted about 350 targeted killings with its own drone force, Delta Force, and SEAL teams.
Journalist Ronen Bergman has been given access to some very senior players in the Israeli intelligence community including Mossad spymaster Meir Dagan who died only in March, 2016, and spent his last breaths condemning Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
While no single act of terror on Jews in the 20th century motivated these killings, it’s pretty clear that the attack on athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich was something that motivated Dagan.
We learn what the intelligence agencies and the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) did well and where they fell far short. We learn how in recent years they adapted new technologies so well that with their drone force it is almost like shooting fish in a barrel.
The discussion of drone coverage, mobile electronic surveillance, and wiretapping opens questions about privacy in the State of Israel itself, of how far the security services will go to monitor its Arab and other citizens.
We learn that Shin Bet was very slow to recognize the rising power of Hamas, and the coalition between Syria, Iran, and Hamas which has delivered hundreds of millions in military supplies and expertise to the terrorist cells.
And we learn that Syria came very close to secretly completing a nuclear arms program before Israeli jets put an end to it.
Not only is the book well researched and written, it is expertly edited as well. While this book is about a terribly serious subject, it does allow room for the gallows humour of trained killers.
No matter the ingenious methods Mossad used to corral Israel’s enemies abroad, there was always another enemy lurking.
This isn’t just the story about Israel’s fabled spy service. It’s about the triumvirate of intelligence services: AMAN, the military intelligence directorate, Shin Bet, its domestic security agency, and Mossad, the agency keeping tabs on Israel’s enemies abroad.
And unlike the divisions between US intelligence and operations arms, in Israel the intelligence divisions are often tasked with covert campaigns, such as the targeted assassinations discussed in this book.
In the scope of this book, we learn the agencies undertook about 1,000 targeted killings, a period where the US secretly attempted about 350 targeted killings with its own drone force, Delta Force, and SEAL teams.
Journalist Ronen Bergman has been given access to some very senior players in the Israeli intelligence community including Mossad spymaster Meir Dagan who died only in March, 2016, and spent his last breaths condemning Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
While no single act of terror on Jews in the 20th century motivated these killings, it’s pretty clear that the attack on athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich was something that motivated Dagan.
We learn what the intelligence agencies and the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) did well and where they fell far short. We learn how in recent years they adapted new technologies so well that with their drone force it is almost like shooting fish in a barrel.
The discussion of drone coverage, mobile electronic surveillance, and wiretapping opens questions about privacy in the State of Israel itself, of how far the security services will go to monitor its Arab and other citizens.
We learn that Shin Bet was very slow to recognize the rising power of Hamas, and the coalition between Syria, Iran, and Hamas which has delivered hundreds of millions in military supplies and expertise to the terrorist cells.
And we learn that Syria came very close to secretly completing a nuclear arms program before Israeli jets put an end to it.
Not only is the book well researched and written, it is expertly edited as well. While this book is about a terribly serious subject, it does allow room for the gallows humour of trained killers.
brad_mckay's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
3.75
cook_memorial_public_library's review
4.0
A 2018 staff favorite recommended by Rob. Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Srise%20and%20kill%20first%20bergman__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold
jerrylwei's review
4.0
A gripping, detailed book that reveals how the tactical intelligence and military successes of Israel's intelligence agencies changed Israeli political and security culture.
I wish Bergman had dealt more comprehensively with three topics. First, Israeli intelligence agencies' relationship with the CIA. To the Israelis, the CIA had frustratingly close ties with the Palestinians but left unexplained is how that changed to the close CIA-Israeli relationship of the the 2000s. Second, how intelligence agencies responded to the rise of right-wing Israeli extremism. Finally, the issue of intelligence agency defectors to Israel's enemies. How big of a problem was it? How did the agencies respond? It's unclear from this otherwise excellent history.
I wish Bergman had dealt more comprehensively with three topics. First, Israeli intelligence agencies' relationship with the CIA. To the Israelis, the CIA had frustratingly close ties with the Palestinians but left unexplained is how that changed to the close CIA-Israeli relationship of the the 2000s. Second, how intelligence agencies responded to the rise of right-wing Israeli extremism. Finally, the issue of intelligence agency defectors to Israel's enemies. How big of a problem was it? How did the agencies respond? It's unclear from this otherwise excellent history.
enno's review against another edition
5.0
I learned a lot, and got a lot of extra context for past events that I was aware of, but never thought this much about before. A remarkable deep dive into the history of the state of Israel and its use of assassination as a political tool. The author has incredible access to some leading figures, and I'm frankly surprised this book exists.