Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations

I knew very little of the Mossad. Most of it told in “mythical awe” in the historical fiction and spy fiction I like to read. I always assumed the targeted killings were slick operations and rarely failed. Also I never thought how an assignation could be tactically successful but strategically disastrous. In addition I thought Mossad was the only intelligence agency in Israel apart from the IDF. This book dispelled a lot of those myths and misunderstandings. However the out of box thinking for most of targeted killings was fascinating. It often felt like I was reading a spy novel. The descriptions of the operations were so detailed you felt like you were right there observing the whole process. But this book is NOT fiction. Many people died during the killings and retaliations after. The book did give me a better understanding of the existential threat Israel is up against in the Middle East. I place no judgment on the targeted killings. One wishes it wouldn’t be “standard practice”’ but understand why it may be the only solution available. I still believe in the two state solution but understand better the hard work and trust needed to achieve it. Highly recommend the read!

I’ve known about the Israeli targeted assignations, but never the size and breadth them. This book brought to light the many reasons why the Mossad, and Israeli intelligence as a whole, is so revered and feared. Reading this book also brought to light a lot of understanding of current events and how many of the leaders of Israel, much like other countries, get recycled. Often not for the good of the country. At the end of this book it’s hard to decide whether I feel sorry for Israelis, the Palestinians, both, or neither. They both seem hell bent on destroying each other, yet as this book, and current events show, continue recreate the cycles of hate through new generations. Either way, amazing book, well written, exciting, and certainly well worth the read.

A very interesting read, very well written (it is reading like a thriller), on a fascinating topic that carries a lot of imagination. This is highly documented, very precise, very in-depth. I had a very good time reading it and I believe it gives very important keys to understand the news. That being said, its thoroughness is sometimes a bit long to read. And one missing point is that it is (obviously) very Israël centered and misses the voices of the other side (but the whole point of the book is how Israël's security services killed those voices...)

Excellent book that gives real insight into the constant struggle of Israel. I would recommend this book to all scholars of history

I am not Jewish, but my wife is. I really enjoyed this book because it gave me the complete history of Israel from 2000 years ago and up to now. Description of different targeted killings and operations whether they went good or bad was with such detail, that, I was so fascinated I couldn’t put the book down. Even now, the Prime Minister of Israel is exactly what Ronan said that he is. I really hope that the war gets over soon and Palestine has its own state. Dagan was right when he said that a 2 State Resolution is the only way to end the war. And Israel has to stay out of the new state of Palestine if there is to be any peace at all , I think. I don’t read many books, but once I started this book I couldn’t wait to get home from work to read more,it was unbelievably written. My thanks to Ronen Bergman And Lawrence O’Donnell because that’s where I saw Ron Bergman first on the Lawrence. O’Donnell show.

The Middle East and the Arab - Israeli conflict have gone on seemingly forever. This is the first book I have read on that subject. What I like about it foremost is the detail and background on operations. The author gives a lot of political information on various Israeli administrations and their individual motivations and strategies. It’s a fascinating, thoroughly researched book. It’s educational especially if you haven’t read much on the subjects of the assassinations, the organizations, intel gathering, along with the process and approval steps. Excellent book!

The sheer difficulty of the sources is a testament to his skill as a journalist. The sheer difficulty of this Gordian Knot problem is a testament to his skill as a formally trained historian. The edge-of-your-seat prose would probably be poo-poo'd by a few academic historians, but mostly out of jealousy. What I'm learning: History is a brutal place where no one's hands are clean. If you, like me, aren't invested in any of the sides in the Middle East, this book won't help you choose. Rather, it will teach you that nuances and contradictions are a standard part of history (that is, history wie es eigentlich gewesen ist, not the history of social media and gossip), and that history isn't tied up in a bow. So much for a historian's comment. For general readers, you'll have a hard time putting it down at bedtime. Your understanding of today's wars in the Middle East will grow exponentially. Last observation: look at this comments from the readers who hated it: they sound like something from the Simpsons, old man shaking his cane at the clouds and yelling, "Get off my lawn!"

This book was one of the finest accounts of a dark history that I have ever read. The author does explain why the Israelis found it necessary to use targeted assassinations for the safety of their people. The emotions that one experiences while reading this book are at times extreme and there are times that you are very proud of what the Isrseli’s were able to accomplish and there were times that you were disappointed in what Israeli’s actually did to defend themselves. I have read many of the other reviews of the book and found statements which I was in total agreement. As I read the book, I feared that this book would become a reference to be used by Israeli’s enemies for decades to come. Only time will tell if my fears are correct. The book is over 700 pages long. I had trouble putting it down because of the quality of the writing and the stories that I was reading. He ends the book chastising the policies and leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu, and I do not disagree with his opinions. However, at no time does he ever opine what he would have done differently to make the situation better than it is. The leadership of Israel siged peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan in exchange for land. To this day, Israel has “peaceful” relations with both Egypt and Jordan. Israel unilaterally decided to withdraw it settlements from Gaza. In exchange for this conciliatory action, Israel gets rockets and terror tunnels from Gaza. According to some people, the settlements are an obstacle to the peace process in the area. The actions of Hamas in Gaza prove that the settlements had nothing to do with the peace effort. After 638 pages of riveting stories, the author thanks all of those who helped him with this seven-year project. At no time does the author ever acknowledge that life for him and his family has been made safer by the efforts that he so explicitly described in the book. The people he wrote about were left thankless for risking their lives and the personal sacrifices they have made attempting to improve the safety and quality of life for Israeli’s in particular and all Jews around the world. I respect the authors skill and effort, and right to publish this exhausting work. I disrespect the author personally for the potential harm that this book will do to Israel and Jews in the world. I feel the author owes the intelligence forces who he has written about, a sincere apology for not making any mention of the sacrifice and good intentions that these people have made to attempt to protect their country and their people in the acknowledgment section at the end of the book. ARW

ユダヤの国のこわさだね

Amazing book that takes you through recent history of the Mossad and demystifies many covert ops. It reads like a thriller.

Delivery took 5 weeks. Maybe it was because of the reduced international cargo flight frequency. Anyway, the book finally came in good condition.

An extremely well written account of the actions undertaken by the Israeli intelligence agencies from their early days with just the right amount of detail to keep the book ticking along. Some of the actions are particularly striking for their innovative planning, such as the killing of Lieutenant-Colonel Mustafa Hafez, the head of Egyptian Military Intelligence in Gaza and organiser of the fedayeen, the bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor being build by Saddam Hussein. The one that perhaps stands out the most for me is the highly daring 1973 Israeli raid in Lebanon (also known as Operation Spring of Youth on the night of 9 April and early morning of 10 April, 1973, when Israeli army special forces units attacked several Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) targets in Beirut and Sidon, Lebanon. The operation is generally considered to have been part of Operation Wrath of God, Israel's retaliation for the Munich massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics. During the operation, three of the highest-level PLO leaders, surprised at home, were killed, along with other PLO members. Several Lebanese security people and civilian neighbours were also killed, as were two of the Israeli soldiers.

This is horrifying. The author is an Israeli journalist who gained the exceedingly rare cooperation of many current and former members of the Israeli government and former members of the Israeli military and intelligence services to write about the targeted assassinations of the supposed enemies of the Israeli state. This includes their successes and their failures. The book covers the entire history of Israel from its pre-state activities to the present. The detail contained in the book is comprehensive; it contains an extensive bibliography and index plus is extensively footnoted. The most eye-opening comment is on the last page of the book, it was made by a former Mossad leader who was approaching the end of his life, came to realise that all of the successes of the assassination program had not realised a more secure future for Israel. That the program was a tactical success and a strategic failure and that the only solution was a two-state solution. The book is not an easy read, it is long and detailed but for anyone with an interest in the Middle East it makes for a better understanding of the forces at play. Highly recommended.