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. ( )

Astounding, overwhelming non-fiction book about the Israeli secret services, and specifically their history of assassination. It is absolutely packed with detail and data — so many stories of various operations, by all sides, successful and not. Bergman keeps his tone mostly factual and non partisan — although revealing so much of Israel's secrets automatically puts him at odds with her institutions. He treads a fine line between sympathy and condemnation, again, for both sides — recognising the deep-rooted causes of the conflicts. He is absolutely excoriating, though, about Ariel Sharon, and his efforts to undermine any peaceful initiatives, and hence perpetuate a tragic and vastly damaging and deadly conflict (Benjamin Netanyahu does not fare too well either). In the end, it is a deeply sad book — and makes one want to cry for the missed opportunities, and all the casually slaughtered innocents. ( )

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. ( )

I just finished Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations by Ronen Bergman This book is a thrilling page turner. I have difficulties with the author's finding "moral quandaries" in actions clearly vital to Israel's survival. Bergman, who now frequently writes for the New York Times, discusses news stories I have read over the years that I was and am elated to read. Those obviously included the raid at Entebbe, the killing of the perpetrators of the Olympic massacres, and the destruction of nuclear reactors in Iraq in 1981 and Syria in 2007. These were actions other Western nations did not have the stomach to do. Those "leaders" would rather dive into a "crisis conference" of similar leaders in Paris and Brussels than actually do something about these morally outrageous attacks on Israeli and Jewish civilians and frankly activities that endanger the world.

Now the quibbles which lead to me to award the book three stars. First, too much moralizing and too many qualms on the subject. Most, if not all of the people knocked off by Israeli intelligence or military are monsters. The jihadis sent to commit suicide attacks are hormone-crazed teens or other fanatics to do the killings, while they luxuriate in the comfort of Tunis, Beirut or European cities. And their "fighters" fight out of uniform.

The author even has qualms about killing Iranian nuclear scientists, since international law isn't clear on this issue. He says that the scientists themselves have killed no one and are not terrorists. Since their aim is to incinerate Israel and possibly Sunni Arab states I see that as a distinction without a difference.

The "solution" the author proposes at the end is the two-state solution. No one has demonstrated that the attacks would stop for longer than it takes to celebrate "independence." Ronen does discuss the fact that the PLO under Arafat did not honor their commitments to halt the terror attacks, and then fails to explain how a "two-state" solution would differ. The book made clear that terrorist expenditures on fighting are lavish. The book only briefly mentions how the people suffer.

He makes the case that the targeted assassinations don't solve the problem, but doesn't give an opinion as to what would. As an informed reader, I have to assume that the risk of being killed creates "operational difficulties" in committing terror and are a large part of the reason for Israel's miraculous survival.

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This amends my earlier posted review. ( )

I've needed to sit on reviewing this book for a while, knowing that no matter what I write, several folks will take my assessment of it as biased. So, let's start with what the book says it's about in its title: "The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations. Yes, the book is about that. It is also about what the people targeted for assassinations did to Israelis that Israel felt justified the assassinations. Well, at least most of the person's targeted for assassination did things against Israelis. And, of course, there are the people who weren't actually targeted and hadn't done anything but be near those targeted, who were also killed or wounded. Collateral damage, I think is the term is. But, really, the book is about two sets of peoples who hate each other with a deep passion. It is also about the belief that if you fear someone may do harm to you, then "rise and kill first." Surely, having someone state openly and clearly that you need to wiped off the face of the earth, then you may believe you have good reason to rise first, but, at some point, if you assume everyone associated with that stated enemy is out to kill you, then you just end up killing a whole bunch of people. Thousands. Tens of thousands. There is no end in sight. The idea of two separate nations or a shared state are laughable in the context of this book. What the book does not cover is how this whole perpetual motion machine got started. There are other very good books on that. This book is very good at explaining how that machine never stops running. It's a sustainably captivating read, assuming all the hatred doesn't get in the way for you. ( )