This is the com­pan­ion vol­ume to the 2012 doc­u­men­tary film of the same name In both ver­sions, the inter­view­er is cin­e­matog­ra­ph­er Dror Moreh. The six inter­vie­wees are all for­mer direc­tors of Shin Bet, the agency respon­si­ble for pre­vent­ing ter­ror attacks with­in the Jew­ish state: Avra­ham Shalom, Yaakov Peri, Car­mi Gillon, Avi Ayalon, Avi Dichter, and Yuval Diskin.

Moreh focus­es on intel­li­gence gath­er­ing and oper­a­tions from 1960 to 2011. As indi­vid­u­als and as a group, the Shin Bet direc­tors probe the inevitable ten­sion between the prized her­itage of Jew­ish moral­i­ty and threats to Israel’s sur­vival. Among top­ics dis­cussed are the Eich­mann kid­nap­ping, the first and sec­ond Intifadas, the Yom Kip­pur War, and the Oslo peace accords. Impor­tant issues such as the rela­tions between Shin Bet and the state’s polit­i­cal and mil­i­tary elites, between Shin Bet and Arab lead­ers, and between Shin Bet and Amer­i­can admin­is­tra­tions receive a thor­ough air­ing. The direc­tors address frankly the dilem­mas involved in con­fronting sui­cide bombers, human and orga­ni­za­tion­al ​“tick­ing bombs,” inter­ro­ga­tions, and autho­riza­tions for ques­tion­ing of sus­pects. In addi­tion to hav­ing a front row seat to his­to­ry, these men were able to observe the var­i­ous prime min­is­ters’ inter­pre­ta­tions of the agen­cy’s mis­sion, and each lead­er’s style.

Accord­ing to Yaakov Peri, for exam­ple, Men­achem Begin insist­ed on order­ly process­es and inter­ro­ga­tions that would ​“pre­serve human dig­ni­ty” as a means of ​“cleans­ing” him­self of his rep­u­ta­tion as a mil­i­tant in Manda­to­ry Pales­tine, and Yitzhak Shamir nev­er enter­tained the pos­si­bil­i­ty of an agree­ment with the Arabs. Car­mi Gillon reveals that Yitzhak Rabin changed his mind over time and con­clud­ed that he would fight ter­ror­ism as if there were no nego­ti­a­tions or nego­ti­ate as if there was no terrorism.

None of the direc­tors are hard-nosed men of war. Their respons­es are thought­ful and nuanced. A few have found relief from their psy­chic bur­dens in music, lit­er­a­ture, and poet­ry. In a clos­ing chap­ter they reveal their fears and hopes for Israel’s future. They lament lost oppor­tu­ni­ties for peace and a change in the state’s unique char­ac­ter as a democ­ra­cy with Jew­ish roots. The assas­si­na­tion of Prime Min­is­ter Yitzhak Rabin haunts them.

This nar­ra­tive will chal­lenge read­ers. Those lack­ing knowl­edge of Israeli his­to­ry and the con­tem­po­rary scene may be over­whelmed. Chap­ters rep­re­sent events occur­ring dur­ing each direc­tor’s tenure; how­ev­er, the views of oth­er direc­tors are often inter­spersed with­out clear attri­bu­tion. Foot­notes pro­vide inad­e­quate expla­na­tions of piv­otal com­mis­sions. This work cries out for a time­line, glos­sary, and a bib­li­og­ra­phy of rel­e­vant materials. 

Relat­ed Content:

• The Hebrew Repub­lic: How Sec­u­lar Democ­ra­cy and Glob­al Enter­prise Will Bring Israel Peace at Last by Bernard Avishai
• Inter­view with Assaf Gavron
• Online Quiz: Ath­lete or Math­lete? by Emi­ly Stone