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A review by veryperi22
Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations by Ronen Bergman
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".