Rise and Kill First

by Ronen Bergman

  harming the president’s chances of reelection in November 2012 Obama and his team were also under pressure from elements of the American media who believed Obama was being too soft on Iran. Meeting with Roger Ailes, January 4, 2012.

  if the talks had begun two years later Tamir Pardo thought that the JCPOA had both positive and negative aspects, and that in any case Israel had to try to work in tandem with the Obama administration in order to improve its terms, because there was no chance of blocking its passage. Netanyahu thought otherwise and made desperate efforts to use his considerable political clout with the Republicans in Washington to thwart the agreement, including a controversial speech before a joint session of Congress in March 2015. Netanyahu was wrong.

  Iran agreed to dismantle the nuclear project almost entirely This agreement goes much farther than anything the Tehran regime had ever agreed to in the past. But it also reflects significant concessions on the part of the international community, including the crossing of red lines that the United States had promised Israel would not be crossed, as well as almost full permission for Iran’s military industries to press forward with their missile development. Ronen Bergman, “What Information Collected by Israeli Intelligence Reveals About the Iran Talks,” Tablet, July 29, 2015.

  Dagan simply repeated them at a conference Memorial gathering for Yosef Harel, commander of AMAN’s assassination unit, 188. Dagan was interviewed by the journalist Ari Shavit.

  Israel has undergone drastic changes in recent decades Ronen Bergman, “Israel’s Army Goes to War with Its Politicians,” New York Times, May 21, 2016.

  More archival references, sources, and pictures used in the research for this book will be posted at www.ronenbergman.com.

  INTERVIEWS

  Aharon Abramovich, Worko Abuhi, Ehud (Udi) Adam, Nathan Adams, Avraham Adan, Nahum Admoni, Gadi Afriat, Shlomi Afriat, David Agmon, Amram Aharoni, Zvi Aharoni, Wanda Akale, Lior Akerman, Fereda Aklum, Aql Al-Hashem, Kanatjan Alibekov, Doron Almog, Ze’ev Alon, Yossi Alpher, Hamdi Aman, Yaakov Amidror, Meir Amit, Frank Anderson, Christopher Andrew, Hugo Anzorreguy, Uzi Arad, Dror Arad-Ayalon, Yasser Arafat, David Arbel, Dani Arditi, Moshe Arens, Anna Aroch, Julian Assange, Rojer Auqe, Gad Aviran, Shai Avital, Juval Aviv, Pinchas Avivi, David Avner, Talia Avner, Uri Avnery, Avner Avraham, Haim Avraham, Aharon Avramovich, Ami Ayalon, Danny Ayalon, Avner Azoulai, Robert Baer, Yossi Baidatz, Ehud Barak, Amatzia Baram, Miki Barel, Aharon Barnea, Avner Barnea, Itamar Barnea, Omer Bar-Lev, Uri Bar-Lev, Hannan Bar-On, David Barkai, Hanoch Bartov, Mehereta Baruch, Yona Baumel, Stanley Bedlington, Benjamin Begin, Yossi Beilin, Dorit Beinisch, Ilan Ben David, Moshe Ben David, Zvika Bendori, Gilad Ben Dror, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, Eliyahu Ben-Elissar, Eitan Ben Eliyahu, Avigdor “Yanosh” Ben-Gal, Isaac Ben Israel, Arthur (Asher) Ben-Natan, Eyal Ben Reuven, Eitan Ben Tsur, Barak Ben Tzur, David Ben Uziel, Ron Ben-Yishai, Yoran Ben Ze’ev, Ronnie (Aharon) Bergman, Muki Betser, Avino Biber, Amnon Biran, Dov Biran, Ilan Biran, Yoav Biran, Kai Bird, Uri Blau, Hans Blix, Gabriella Blum, Naftali Blumenthal, Yossef Bodansky, Joyce Boim, Ze’ev Boim, Chaim Boru, Avraham Botzer, Eitan Braun, Shlomo Brom, Shay Brosh, Jean-Louis Bruguière, Pinchas Buchris, Haim Buzaglo, Zvi Caftori, Haim Carmon, Igal Carmon, Aharon Chelouche, Dvora Chen, Uri Chen, Michael Chertoff, Itamar Chizik, Joseph Ciechanover, Wesley Clark, Avner Cohen, Haim Cohen, Moshe Cohen, Ronen Cohen (scholar), Dr. Ronen Cohen (AMAN Officer), Yair Cohen, Yuval Cohen-Abarbanel, Reuven Dafni, Meir Dagan, Avraham Dar, Yossi Daskal, Ruth Dayan, Uzi Dayan, Puyya Dayanim, Ofer Dekel, Avi Dichter, Yuval Diskin, Amnon Dror, Moshe Efrat, Dov Eichenwald, Uzi Eilam, Giora Eiland, Robert Einhorn, Yom Tov (Yomi) Eini, Amos Eiran, Ehud Eiran, Elad Eisenberg, Miri Eisin, Rafael Eitan, Rolf Ekeus, Ofer Elad, Avigdor Eldan (Azulay), Mike Eldar, Jean-Pierre Elraz, Haggai Erlich, Reuven Erlich, Dror Eshel, Shmuel Ettinger, Uzi Even, Gideon Ezra, Meir Ezri, Aharon Zeevi Farkash, Menachem Finkelstein, Amit Forlit, Moti Friedman, Uzi Gal, Yehoar Gal, Yoav Galant, Yoram Galin, Robert Gates, Karmit Gatmon, Yeshayahu Gavish, Shlomo Gazit, Yoav Gelber, Reuel Gerecht, Dieter Gerhardt, Erez Gerstein, Binyamin Gibli, Mordechai Gichon, Gideon Gideon, Yehuda Gil, Amos Gilad, Amos Gilboa, Carmi Gillon, Yossi Ginat, Isabella Ginor, Yossi Ginossar, Caroline Glick, Tamar Golan, Motti Golani, Ralph Goldman, Gadi Goldstein, Karnit Goldwasser, David Golomb, Sarit Gomez, Oleg Gordievsky, Ran Goren, Uri Goren, Eitan Haber, Arie Hadar, Amin al-Hajj, Asher Hakaini, Eli Halachmi, Aharon Halevi, Aliza Magen Halevi, Aviram Halevi, David Halevi, Amnon Halivni, Uri Halperin, Dan Halutz, August Hanning, Alouph Hareven, Elkana Har Nof, Dani Harari, Shalom Harari, Isser Harel, Hani al-Hassan, Yisrael Hasson, Robert Hatem, Shai Herschkovich, Seymour Hersh, Robin Higgins, Shlomo Hillel, Gal Hirsch, Yair Hirschfeld, Yitzhak Hofi, Lior Horev, Yehiel Horev, Rami Igra, Yitzhak Ilan, Shimshon Issaki, David Ivri, Aryeh Ivtzan, Yehiel Kadishai, Oleg Kalugin, Anat Kamm, Tsvi Kantor, Yehudit Karp, Asa Kasher, Eugene Kaspersky, Samy Katsav, Kassa Kebede, Paul Kedar, Ruth Kedar, Moti Kfir, Gedaliah Khalaf, Moti Kidor, David Kimche, Yarin Kimor, Ephraim Kleiman, David Klein, Yoni Koren, Joseph Kostiner, Aryeh Krishak, Itzhak Kruizer, David Kubi, Chen Kugel, David Kulitz, Yossi Kuperwasser, Anat Kurz, Gunther Latsch, Eliot Lauer, Nachum Lev, Shimon Lev, Alex Levac, Amihai Levi, Nathan Levin, Nathaniel Levitt, Aharon Levran, Avi Levy, Gideon Levy, Udi Levy, Bernard Lewis, Rami Liber, Avi Lichter, Alon Liel, Danny Limor, Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Dror Livne, Tzipi Livni, Lior Lotan, Uri Lubrani, Uzi Mahnaimi, Nir Man, Francine Manbar, Nahum Manbar, Victor Marchetti, Dan Margalit, David Meidan, Gideon Meir, Moshe Meiri, Nehemia Meiri, Yoram Meital, David Menashri, Ariel Merari, Reuven Merhav, Dan Meridor, Joy Kid Merkham, Gidi Meron, Hezi Meshita, Benny Michelson, Amram Mitzna, Ilan Mizrahi, Shaul Mofaz, Yekutiel Mor, Yitzhak Mordechai, Shmuel (Sami) Moriah, Benny Morris, Shlomo Nakdimon, Hamid Nasrallah, David Nataf, Yair Naveh, Yoni Navon, Menahem Navot, Ori Neeman, Yuval Ne’eman, Jack Neria, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yaakov Nimrodi, Nimrod Nir, Alberto Nisman, Moshe Nissim, Tzila Noiman, Rafi Noy, Oded (last name confidential), Arye Oded, Raphael Ofek, Amir Ofer, Ehud Olmert, Reza Pahlavi Shah, Gabriel Pasquini, Alexander Patnic, Shmuel Paz, Avi Peled, Yossi Peled, Gustavo Perednik, Shimon Peres, Amir Peretz, Yuri Perfilyev, Yaakov Peri, Richard Perle, Israel Perlov, Giandomenico Picco, Zvi Poleg, Eli Pollak, Yigal Pressler, Avi Primor, Ron Pundak, Yitzhak Pundak, Ahmed Qrea, Rona Raanan Shafrir, Dalia Rabin, Itamar Rabinovich, Gideon Rafael, Rani Rahav, Jibril Rajoub, Natan Rotberg (Rahav), Haggai Ram, Haim Ramon, Muhammad Rashid, Yair Ravid-Ravitz, Oded Raz, Benny Regev, Yiftach Reicher Atir, Shlomi Reisman, Daniel Reisner, Bill Rois, Dafna Ron, Eran Ron, Yiftah Ron-Tal, Avraham Rotem, Danny Rothschild, Elyakim Rubinstein, Joseph Saba, Dov Sadan, Ezra Sadan, Rachel Sadan, Jehan Sadat, Uri Sagie, Ori Salonim, Wafiq al-Samarrai, Yom Tov Samia, Eli Sanderovich, Yossi Sarid, Nicolas Sarkozy, Igal Sarna, Moshe Sasson, Uri Savir, Oded Savoray, Yezid Sayigh, David Scharia, Otniel Schneller, Yoram Schweitzer, Patrick Seale, Itzhak Segev, Samuel Segev, Dror Sela, Aviem Sella, David Senesh, Michael Sfard, Oren Shachor, Yarin Shahaf, Moshe Shahal, Hezi Shai, Emmanuel Shaked, Arik Shalev, Noam Shalit, Silvan Shalom, Yitzhak Shamir, Shimon Shapira, Yaakov Shapira, Assaf Shariv, Shabtai Shavit, Gideon Sheffer, Rami Sherman, Shimon Sheves, David Shiek, Dov Shilansky, Dubi Shiloah, Gad Shimron, Amir Shoham, Dan Shomron, David Shomron, Eliad Shraga, Zvi Shtauber, Yigal Simon, Efraim Sneh, Ovadia Sofer, Sami Sokol, Ali Soufan, Yuval Steinitz, Elazar Stern, Rafi Sutton, Rami Tal, Anat Talshir, Dov Tamari, Avraham Tamir, Elhanan Tannenbaum, Benjamin Telem, Ahmad Tibi, Izhak Tidhar, Rafi Tidhar, Yona Tilman, Tawfiq Tirawi, Haim Tomer, Richard Tomlinson, Eliezer (Geize) Tsafrir, Moshe Tsipper, Yoram Turbowicz, Shalom Turgeman, David Tzur, Ernst Uhrlau, Alon Unger, Rehavia Vardi, Matan Vilnai, David Vital, Ali Waked, Tim Weiner, Anita Weinstein, Avi Weiss Livne, Dov Weissglass, Robert Windrem, Paul Wolfowitz, James Woolsey, Yitzhak Ya’akov, Moshe Ya’alon, Amos Yadlin, Yoram Yair, Amos Yaron, Danny Yatom, Ehud Yatom, Eli Yossef, Dov Zakheim, Zvi Zamir, Benny Zeevi, Dror Ze’evi, Nadav Zeevi, Doron Zehavi, Eli Zeira, Amnon Zichroni, Eyal Zisser, Eli Ziv, Shabtai Ziv, Eli Zohar, Gadi Zohar, and Giora
Zussman, as well as 350 interviewees who cannot be named; the initials or code names of 163 of them appear in the endnotes.

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