Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations by Ronen Bergman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a fascinating book about the history of Israeli intelligence and policies of targeted assassinations. The author is an Israeli investigative reporter, and the book is written originally in Hebrew. The translation is excellent, however, and the book is very readable and incredibly interesting. In addition, the author is surprisingly even-handed about the foreign policy, operational, and tactical policies and decisions of the Israeli government and intelligence agencies. He is critical of the blunders made and of the decisions taken, especially in recent events, but he is also realistic about the choices faced by the Israelis.
If there is one quote that epitomizes the philosophy of the Israeli intelligence agencies, it is this one: “Let’s admit the truth: most of the Jews in the Holocaust died without fighting. We must never reach that situation again, kneeling, without the ability to fight for our lives.”
The title of the book comes from a Babylonian Talmud, “If someone comes to kill you, rise early and kill him first.”
Read the book.



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