A review by miguelf
Rise and Kill First: The Inside Story and Secret Operations of Israel's Assassination Program by Rob Shapiro, Ronen Bergman

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.