Israeli Author Ronen Bergman Discusses ‘Rise and Kill First’ at the MJCCA Book Festival

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 Israel 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. In this page-turning, eye-opening book, Israeli investigative journalist and military analyst Ronen Bergman offers a riveting inside account of these programs: their successes, their failures, and the moral and political price exacted on those 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 Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Mossad, and the Shin Bet. He traces, from statehood to the present, the gripping events and tough ethical questions underlying Israel’s targeted assassinations, which has shaped the Israeli nation, the Middle East, and the entire world. Rise and Kill First has been hailed by The New York Times as “an exceptional work, a humane book about an incendiary subject.”

Ronen Bergman is the senior correspondent for military and intelligence affairs for Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s largest daily paid newspaper, and a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, where he reports on intelligence, national security, terrorism, and nuclear issues.

In Conversation with Dov Wilker, Regional Director, American Jewish Committee, Atlanta

COMMUNITY PARTNER: ISRAELI AMERICAN COUNCIL