Rise and Kill First

Journalist and military analyst Ronen Bergman traces the history of targeted killing by Israel's intelligence services and armed forces, starting with Bar Giora, the group founded in 1907. The title draws on the Talmud's advice to strike first at anyone who comes to kill. By Bergman's count, Israel has killed more people this way than any other Western state since World War II, in at least 2,700 operations over seventy years. He drew on about a thousand interviews, including former prime minister Ehud Barak and former Mossad head Meir Dagan, and thousands of documents. Targets range from British officials and Iranian nuclear scientists to leaders of Hezbollah, the PLO and Hamas. It won the 2018 National Jewish Book Award.

Sumo founder Noah Kagan, who listed it among his favorites of 2018, said he was shocked it was ever released and that it tells remarkable stories of Israeli secret intelligence and persistence.