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  • Rise and Kill First

  • The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations
  • Written by: Ronen Bergman
  • Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
  • Length: 25 hrs and 58 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (95 ratings)

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Rise and Kill First

Written by: Ronen Bergman
Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
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Publisher's Summary

New York Times best seller. The first definitive history of the Mossad, Shin Bet, and the IDF’s targeted killing programs, hailed by The New York Times as "an exceptional work, a humane book about an incendiary subject."

Winner of the National Jewish Book Award in History.

Named one of the 10 best books of the year by Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times.

Named one of the best books of the year by The Economist, The New York Times Book Review, BBC History Magazine, Mother Jones, and Kirkus Reviews

The Talmud says: "If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first." This instinct to take every measure, even the most aggressive, to defend the Jewish people is hardwired into Israel's DNA. From the very beginning of its statehood in 1948, protecting the nation from harm has been the responsibility of its intelligence community and armed services, and there is one weapon in their vast arsenal that they have relied upon to thwart the most serious threats: Targeted assassinations have been used countless times, on enemies large and small, sometimes in response to attacks against the Israeli people and sometimes preemptively.

In this pause-resisting, eye-opening audiobook, journalist and military analyst Ronen Bergman - praised by David Remnick as "arguably [Israel's] best investigative reporter" - offers a riveting inside account of the targeted killing programs: their successes, their failures, and the moral and political price exacted on the men and women who approved and carried out the missions.

Bergman has gained the exceedingly rare cooperation of many current and former members of the Israeli government, including Prime Ministers Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon, and Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as high-level figures in the country's military and intelligence services: the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), the Mossad (the world's most feared intelligence agency), Caesarea (a "Mossad within the Mossad" that carries out attacks on the highest-value targets), and the Shin Bet (an internal security service that implemented the largest targeted assassination campaign ever, in order to stop what had once appeared to be unstoppable: suicide terrorism).

Including never-before-reported, behind-the-curtain accounts of key operations, and based on hundreds of on-the-record interviews and thousands of files to which Bergman has gotten exclusive access over his decades of reporting, Rise and Kill First brings us deep into the heart of Israel’s most secret activities. Bergman traces, from statehood to the present, the gripping events and thorny ethical questions underlying Israel’s targeted killing campaign, which has shaped the Israeli nation, the Middle East, and the entire world.

©2018 Ronen Bergman (P)2018 Random House Audio

What the critics say

“Ronen Bergman has set out in incontestable detail the history and scale of Israel’s use of extrajudicial killing as an instrument of defense and foreign policy. His material is stark and sensational, but he steers a steady course through it, even pausing along the way to debate the effectiveness and morality of his subject. The result is a compelling read whatever your point of view.” (John le Carré)  

“This remarkable account of Israel’s targeted-killing programs is the product of nearly eight years of research into what is arguably the most secretive and impenetrable intelligence community in the world. Bergman, an investigative reporter and military analyst, interviewed hundreds of insiders, including assassins, and obtained thousands of classified documents.” (The New Yorker)

“America’s difficult relationship with targeted killing and the dilemmas we may face in the future are beautifully illuminated by the longer story of Israel’s experiences with assassination in its own endless war against terrorism.... Americans now have a terrific new introduction to that story with publication of Ronen Bergman’s Rise and Kill First.... It moves at a torrid pace and tells stories that would make Jason Bourne sit up and say ‘Wow!’ It is smart, thoughtful and balanced, and the English translation is superb. It deserves all of the plaudits it has already received.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“Blending history and investigative reporting, Bergman never loses sight of the ethical questions that arise when a state, founded as a refuge for a stateless people who were targets of a genocide, decides it needs to kill in order to survive.... This book is full of shocking moments, surprising disturbances in a narrative full of fateful twists and unintended consequences.” (The New York Times)

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What listeners say about Rise and Kill First

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Great

one of the best books I have "read" in a long time. Great story and reader

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Epic tales. Excellent narrator.

I would highly recommend this book. Long, but full of great stories. Narrator was excellent

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An intense and fascinating book

Definitely had me hooked. An excellent look into the world of intelligence, unfortunate cycle of violence and repercussions of conflict.

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rise and Kill First

Really enjoyed the “book”, narration was good for the style of the stories.
Lots of great details and information, when I got to the end I was hoping for more. Glad I got this and listened to it diligently.

On to the next one!

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Quite a interesting listen.

This book gives the listener a good view on what a nation must do to survive against it's swarn enemies. Sometimes the author ( or perhaps it's the reader) seems to come across as somewhat anti-Semitic in the accounts given. Non the less I found it a good look into to history and turmoil the Isreal has gone through to stay alive. In short don't get in a countries bad list when they have the ability to arrange your "meeting with God.'

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1 person found this helpful

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  • Rob
  • 2019-09-30

Outstanding!

Rise and kill first is an excellent introduction to the complex history of Israel. it also clarifies the complexity of the Arab-Israeli conflict. A keeper.

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Israel’s Fight for Survival - unprecedented insight.

Outstanding on all fronts.... historically informative yet really comes to life with the many detailed descriptions of actual inside Israeli defense operations. Highly recommended.

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Very well researched and written.

Some amazing stories and messages in this book, I found the message from Dagan at the end very sad given the current state of affairs in the Middle East.

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  • P K
  • 2023-06-18

The very best I’ve heard on Audible

The most compelling audiobook I’ve yet enjoyed on audible. An absolutely magisterial tome with immense research behind it and a hell of a lot of punch. Couldn’t stop listening.

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Liberal gevernment as a waxed moustache.

I had so much hope when they used the name Covaent. Two steps back.

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