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Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations by Ronen Bergman
tbloehrlein's review against another edition
4.0
The information provided by the author is very detailed and gives you a better idea of what Israel’s spy agency is doing. Not only does the author detail the events, but he presents thoughts/beliefs of his own, the actors, and the world. Why Israel commits such clandestine acts, the morality of committing such acts, the damage done on both sides that result from the acts, and the world’s reactions to the acts. I particularly appreciate that the author presents the acts as sometimes being very “grey,” that it is not as “black and white” as we make it out to be. The nuisances allow the reader to wrestle with their own beliefs. If they were in such a position or a citizen living in Israel, what would we believe as the right course of action?
I did give it four stars because the ending. I believed it suddenly ended with little debate on the questions that arose during most of the book. I thought the author missed the opportunity to present to the reader the questions one last time which would help the reader wrestle with such questions after putting the book down.
I did give it four stars because the ending. I believed it suddenly ended with little debate on the questions that arose during most of the book. I thought the author missed the opportunity to present to the reader the questions one last time which would help the reader wrestle with such questions after putting the book down.
veryperi22's review against another edition
5.0
This book evoked all kinds of conflicting emotions.
On the one hand, as the title itself indicates, the gemara counsels "If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first”,
On the other, it becomes problematic when the lines blur when defining who it is that is the "someone" that comes to kill you.
More than once, the attitude one encounters by various members in key roles is that if they're Arab, they're all terrorists. Ma Bayah?.
It echoes horribly and familiarly of any other broad-brush strokes, only this time with deadly consequences.
While the targeted killing policy so central to Israel's strategy has been crucial to the country’s defense, it is also rife with moral dilemmas.
It's a book that has made me deeply uncomfortable.
I think the author says it best, and most concisely, at the end of his book:
"Indeed, in many respects the story of Israel's inteligence community as recounted in this book has been one of a long string of impressive tactical successes, but also, disastrous strategic failures".
On the one hand, as the title itself indicates, the gemara counsels "If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first”,
On the other, it becomes problematic when the lines blur when defining who it is that is the "someone" that comes to kill you.
More than once, the attitude one encounters by various members in key roles is that if they're Arab, they're all terrorists. Ma Bayah?.
It echoes horribly and familiarly of any other broad-brush strokes, only this time with deadly consequences.
While the targeted killing policy so central to Israel's strategy has been crucial to the country’s defense, it is also rife with moral dilemmas.
It's a book that has made me deeply uncomfortable.
I think the author says it best, and most concisely, at the end of his book:
"Indeed, in many respects the story of Israel's inteligence community as recounted in this book has been one of a long string of impressive tactical successes, but also, disastrous strategic failures".
lahendren's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
5.0
socraticgadfly's review against another edition
3.0
Informative in many ways, but NOT in one HUGE way
This book is great for documenting how Mossad (foreign intell), Shin Bet (domestic intel) and Aman (military intel) combined to fight a variety of threats from various Palestinian groups, including Fatah and Hamas, plus Hezbullah in Lebanon, and Syrian and other support for some terrorists.
It documents types of operations, targets, successes, some slip-ups, organizational lapses and overhauls, and other things. Philosophies of all three groups, of individual leaders, and of the Israeli government in relation to targeted killings and other operations are also discussed.
There are also decent mini-profiles of not only Arafat but leaders of other groups and their aims and tactics, as well as of the various Israeli leaders of the three organizations and Israeli polticians.
But, since even a great book is normally at 4.5 stars for me, the one big lack, and lesser connected lacks, drop this to 3 stars.
NOT ONE WORD ABOUT THE NAKBA.
A person with little familiarity with the Middle East might just randomly buy the line of harder-core Zionists that Palestinians are ingrates, or even less than fully human.
Not one word about how, when Britain withdrew, and Israel, after attacks by Arab states, decided to expand boundaries beyond its UN mandate, and to expel, by various means, as many Arabs as it could.
The word isn't even in the index.
There's less than one word about the pre-Nakba "nakba," too. After World War I, but during the British Mandate period of control, Zionist settlers then were already trying to push Arabs off their land through threats at times, force at other times. And, succeeding often enough
Sure, the terrorism by Begin et al against the British gets brief mention. Bergman can't avoid that.
But, there's no mention of pre-Nakba land appropriation. Just of groups like Hashomer punishing Palestinian Arabs who allegedly deserved punishment.
Nor is there mention that Chaim Weizmann, even before the Balfour Declaration, said that Zionists would wait a generation or so, then start expropriating land.
None of this is to say that Arabs in either late Ottoman or British Mandate times were perfect. They weren't. Mandate-era Grand Mufti excited Arab actions against Jews. (And led protests about what was seen as pro-Jewish tiltings by Britain.)
If you want facts about what both Israel and various Palestinian and non-Palestinian groups are doing, this is a good book, as far as actual terrorist actions (though not all all by Israel are labeled that way).
If you want facts about why this is all happening, this is not at all a great book.
For that, read someone like Norman Finkelstein. https://theintercept.com/2018/05/20/norman-finkelstein-gaza-iran-israel-jerusalem-embassy/
This book is great for documenting how Mossad (foreign intell), Shin Bet (domestic intel) and Aman (military intel) combined to fight a variety of threats from various Palestinian groups, including Fatah and Hamas, plus Hezbullah in Lebanon, and Syrian and other support for some terrorists.
It documents types of operations, targets, successes, some slip-ups, organizational lapses and overhauls, and other things. Philosophies of all three groups, of individual leaders, and of the Israeli government in relation to targeted killings and other operations are also discussed.
There are also decent mini-profiles of not only Arafat but leaders of other groups and their aims and tactics, as well as of the various Israeli leaders of the three organizations and Israeli polticians.
But, since even a great book is normally at 4.5 stars for me, the one big lack, and lesser connected lacks, drop this to 3 stars.
NOT ONE WORD ABOUT THE NAKBA.
A person with little familiarity with the Middle East might just randomly buy the line of harder-core Zionists that Palestinians are ingrates, or even less than fully human.
Not one word about how, when Britain withdrew, and Israel, after attacks by Arab states, decided to expand boundaries beyond its UN mandate, and to expel, by various means, as many Arabs as it could.
The word isn't even in the index.
There's less than one word about the pre-Nakba "nakba," too. After World War I, but during the British Mandate period of control, Zionist settlers then were already trying to push Arabs off their land through threats at times, force at other times. And, succeeding often enough
Sure, the terrorism by Begin et al against the British gets brief mention. Bergman can't avoid that.
But, there's no mention of pre-Nakba land appropriation. Just of groups like Hashomer punishing Palestinian Arabs who allegedly deserved punishment.
Nor is there mention that Chaim Weizmann, even before the Balfour Declaration, said that Zionists would wait a generation or so, then start expropriating land.
None of this is to say that Arabs in either late Ottoman or British Mandate times were perfect. They weren't. Mandate-era Grand Mufti excited Arab actions against Jews. (And led protests about what was seen as pro-Jewish tiltings by Britain.)
If you want facts about what both Israel and various Palestinian and non-Palestinian groups are doing, this is a good book, as far as actual terrorist actions (though not all all by Israel are labeled that way).
If you want facts about why this is all happening, this is not at all a great book.
For that, read someone like Norman Finkelstein. https://theintercept.com/2018/05/20/norman-finkelstein-gaza-iran-israel-jerusalem-embassy/
amarj33t_5ingh's review against another edition
5.0
What makes Bergman's Rise And Kill First: The Secret History Of Israel's Targeted Assassinations decisively groundbreaking is the fact that Bergman provides a very immersive, and profoundly intimate glimpse inside the clandestine world of Mossad-seemingly the world's most effective Intelligence Service.
Bergman's primary source here is none other than the late Meir Dagan, the 10th Director of Mossad who transformed it from an antiquated and obsolete agency into a state-of-the-art espionage body capable of carrying out targeted assassinations.
And targeted assassinations form the crux of Bergman's history. The reader is shown the legal framework behind the system and the moral and ethical dilemmas arising from the practice which all branches of the Israeli military grapples with.
A very simple to comprehend and page turning biography of Israel's premier defense force.
Bergman's primary source here is none other than the late Meir Dagan, the 10th Director of Mossad who transformed it from an antiquated and obsolete agency into a state-of-the-art espionage body capable of carrying out targeted assassinations.
And targeted assassinations form the crux of Bergman's history. The reader is shown the legal framework behind the system and the moral and ethical dilemmas arising from the practice which all branches of the Israeli military grapples with.
A very simple to comprehend and page turning biography of Israel's premier defense force.