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

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Rise and Kill First is a gripping investigative history that examines Israel’s long-standing policy of targeted assassinations against enemies both near and far. Although I read this book a while back it is very topical today. Journalist Ronen Bergman spent years interviewing intelligence officials, military leaders, and political figures from the Israeli intelligence agencies and the military. The book is from 2018 but despite the age brings us valuable insights into how Israeli intelligence works, how it grew into what it is today, with an emphasis on operations designed to kill those who believed that acts of terror conducted against the State of Israel would go unanswered.
The book shows that Israel has conducted more targeted assassinations than any other country in modern history, using covert operations to eliminate threats ranging from terrorists, militant leaders and yes even nuclear scientists. The author does not gloss over some of the very big mistakes that Israeli intelligence has made over the years, but there are also many very notable successes.

The title comes from an ancient Jewish teaching:

“If someone comes to kill you, rise and kill him first.”

This phrase becomes the guiding philosophy behind Israel’s security strategy.

This is a book on Israeli intelligence and operations to eliminate enemies permanently. No book dealing with any facet of the Israeli state can ignore the founding of Israel, and the immediate and continual efforts by the neighboring Arab nations to eliminate the Israeli state. Whether or not you agree with the Israeli methodology the immediate, and continual threat they faced, was existential. Their response to this threat was often times pre-emptive in striking their enemies, and in other cases simply visiting retribution upon those who had committed heinous acts. The book covers the neighborhood hostility, and sets the stage for Israeli intelligence hitting back in a very tough way.
Israeli intelligence is known to be amongst the very best in the world. In my view they are at the very top of that ranking, and their record proves it. I have always felt this way, but I had no idea that it was Israeli intelligence that secured a copy of the Nikita Khrushchev anti-Stalin speech after Stalin’s death. The release of the speech caused the Soviets untold problems in the communist bloc, especially with China.

Even though the book is from 2018 there is a constancy to the ongoing issues in the Middle East. What Israeli intelligence operations were covered?
• Assassination campaigns against the leaders of groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
• Operations to sabotage the Iranian nuclear program.
• The intelligence wars that operated as a major feature of the many armed conflicts in the region.
• Israeli retaliation operations after the Munich Massacre during the 1972 Summer Olympics.

You do not need to watch James Bond movies if you are interested in espionage. Israeli intelligence is the real deal, and that includes some cutting edge tools of spy craft. The book provides detailed accounts of covert missions across the Middle East and Europe, showing how intelligence networks, surveillance and undercover agents operate in real-world espionage.

Despite the book being Israeli sourced the author does not shy away from some of the notable failures by the Israelis. It is balanced in its way, One of the notable failures covered, amongst the many successes, was the attempted poisoning of Khaled Mashal in Jordan. This is one of the book’s most jaw-dropping episodes because it was both audacious and badly botched. Israeli agents tried to kill Hamas leader Khaled Mashal in Amman using poison, but the operation unraveled, agents were caught, and Israel had to provide the antidote under intense pressure from Jordan. It reads like a thriller, but Bergman treats it as a case study in hubris.

The saying that “the more things change the more they stay the same” comes to mind. The Hamas-Israeli war is not new.

This book is highly recommended, especially in light of the current conflagration in the Middle East. Understanding the history involved in the Middle East helps us all to look at current events with a clearer view of how we arrived at this point.

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