The Secret War with Iran: The 30-Year Clandestine Struggle Against the World's Most Dangerous Terrorist Power

by Ronen Bergman

In the years since 9/11, the U.S. war on terror has focused on al-Qaeda, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Coverage of Iran has been devoted almost exclusively to its nuclear ambitions. Yet, as Ronen Bergman's groundbreaking reporting in this vital investigative history reveals, for thirty years, Iran has been the world's leading sponsor of global terror and stands as the most formidable sponsor of terror in the world today. Bergman, one of Israel's top investigative reporters, gained unprecedented access to extra-ordinary sources from top to bottom in the Mossad and intelligence agencies around the world. Based on over ten years of research and more than three hundred exclusive interviews with key intelligence figures, he reveals that Iranian terrorist masterminds have crisscrossed the globe, conducting bombings and assassinations with impunity -- even renting apartments and planning bombing attacks in New York City. Iran's proxy, Hizballah, has virtually taken over southern Lebanon and threatens Israel with high-powered weaponry supplied by Iran. Iran and Hizballah worked closely with al-Qaeda and other Sunni terrorist groups in developing their terrorist operations, and Iranian commandos trained Iraqi insurgents in the crafts of suicide bombing and the building of the roadside bombs that have killed so many U.S. troops in Iraq. In response, and largely beneath the public's radar, a vast clandestine war has been fought with Iran and Hizballah on one side and the CIA, Israel's Mossad, and their European counterparts on the other. The full story of that secret war, told for the first time here, will fundamentally change the debate about U.S. national security priorities. A new axis of evil is emerging from Iran and spreading around the world, and Ronen Bergman shows that the CIA and Mossad have so far been unable to thwart it. The Secret War with Iran is riveting and urgent.

Genres: History, Middle East, Iran, Israel, Politics, Nonfiction, Military Fiction

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Ronen Bergman (Hebrew: רונן ברגמן) was born in 1972, and grew up in Kiryat Bialik. His mother was a teacher and his father was an accountant. He is the youngest of three children. As a boy, he was a reporter for a youth television show.

He studied law at the University of Haifa, and graduated cum laude from its law school. He is a member of the Israeli Bar. He also studied history and international relations at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and was awarded an M.Phil. degree in international relations, and then a PhD for his dissertation on the Israeli Mossad.

He is a member of the Körber Foundation "Munich Young Leaders 2010" and participated in the prestigious the "Munich 46 Security Conference".

He is a former senior staff feature writer for Haaretz.

Bergman is the recipient of the 1995 Bnei Brith Worlds Center Award for Journalism and the 1996 Ha’aretz award for Best Story.

Reviews

[Brock Rhodes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Propaganda. Funny, I don't recall ever stumbling onto the word "Haliburton." Interesting that the book is filled with anecdotes characterizing Arab or Persian agents as drug dealers, gamblers, whore mongers, or traitors which are noticeably absent in the characterizations of American and Israeli agents. I guess that helps make sense why so many "miracles" occur to save the most honorable but sometimes mistaken Israel. This book is garbage. It seems to be written from the perspective of an overgrown infant, cranky, worshipful, and not yet formed morally. Barf... barf... barf.

[Josh Liller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative recap of events involving the United States, Israel, Iran, Hezbollah, Syria, and lesser involved factions and nations from the Iranian Revolution through the Second Lebanon War.

The author is Israeli but he doesn't seem biased and seems quite willing to be critical of his country's decisions.

Al Queda is touched on but there are no shockers within. Iran's support of them has been more than nothing but pretty minor and they basically cut ties after 9/11, although Iran's leaders remain sympathetic to their cause.

The overall theme of the book seems to be that since the Iranian Revolution, Iran has fought a Cold War with Israel through proxies, primarily Hezbollah but more recently with the growing involvement with Syria and Hamas (thanks to changes in leadership). Israeli's famous intelligence has done impressive things but suffers from some of the same shortcomings as the United States' does (such as failure to share information properly between different intelligent departments). Israeli's attempts to neutralize openly dangerous opposing leaders - especially in militant Palestinian groups - through assassinations just triggers suicide bombings, rocket attacks, and kidnappings in retaliation. As time goes by, the guerrilla forces opposing Israel are becoming smarter and more effective while Israel's forces are failing to keep up with the changing times (a problem also suffered by the US).

Despite the extensive amount of information offered and being of about average length (not quite 400 pages), I found myself becoming repeatedly bogged down in reading this book and putting it aside temporarily for other books that were more digestible and that felt less repetitive (though the problem seemed to me to be that the events become repetitious, not so much that the author was repeating himself).

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are interesting aspects to this book, but too many of its anecdotes and "case studies" seem thinly documented. There might be some cases where its claims would be easier to investigate if I spoke Hebrew of Arabic, but I don't, so... bummer. As with some (but far from all) other books I've read about Israeli intelligence operations, it seems to over-emphasize the importance, intelligence and nobility of Israeli agents and bitch about those agents from other countries, particularly the U.S. I have no reason to believe any specific claims are false, but that tendency gives the whole thing a patina of bullshit. Not because the U.S. is so great (it's obvious our intelligence services have exhibited many failings to say the least) but because it's always suspect when a book gets this repetitive. The "moral of the story" seemed to be the same over and over and over again in a series of largely disconnected anecdotes. I do NOT blame this in any way on Bergman being Israeli; there have been numerous works by Israeli journalists and scholars that felt extremely objective and contained what felt like top-notch scholarship. However, such writers don't seem to gravitate toward writing about the intelligence community in any country, or worldwide. The same thing, to some degree, is true about books on the U.S. intelligence community, where U.S. case officers are portrayed heroically and Europeans are cheese-scarfing incompetent snobs.

Short version: Some of this stuff felt like garbage, and I felt like I was wasting my time reading it. It isn't even remotely in the same "bullshit territory" as "By Way of Deception," which reads like a half-drunk lunatic's slurry rant. There's enough material and research original to this book that it is definitely worth a read for anyone interested in the intelligence landscape in the Middle East and particularly in the Levant as it pertains to Iran. But take it all with a grain of salt.

[ManOfLaBook.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could almost be subtitled "everything you ever wanted to know about Iran but were afraid to ask". Ronen Bergman, an Israeli journalist, uncovers secret documents, dirty deals and manipulations across decades which have gotten us to the point of where we are today.

Unlike other commentators who haven't read the book and are quick to judge about the "right wing slant", I have read the book completely and even though I don't agree with some of the analysis I think the history is fascinating and that by itself is worth the price of admission.

The text I read, which is in the original Hebrew, reads like a clandestine novel and is hard to put down. I thought the book's bias was to the right of center, however my right wing friends thought it was too far to the left. So I guess the author did a good job.

The book starts with a page-turner relationship between Iran and Israel, before and after the Khomeini revolution. This sets the stage for things to come as well as gives the reader a basic understanding of current events as well as the animosity Iran feels towards Israel for supporting the Shah.

Continuing with a journey that spans generations and continents Mr. Bergman takes the reader to lawless South American towns and into secret intelligence meetings as well as dirty dealings among contractors.
So dirty in fact that I felt like taking a shower after reading several passages.

Offering the readers strategic analysis and several anecdotes along the history lesson (whose history it remains to be seen), Mr. Bergman also analyzes the Iranian political system including the current administration, as well as the Iranian nuclear efforts and the country's role in arming and training Hezbollah

The only downfall of the book, admitted by the author, is the inability to cover some issues completely due to either censorship or lack of documentation of paperwork.

If you get the impression from previous posters that this book is a love letter to Israel, you will be sorely disappointed. The author takes a stab at Israeli intelligence almost every other page, the brutal literary blows shatter the image of the "all knowing" Mossad and exposes the inner fighting, lies and the grim price paid by the Israeli people for those shenanigans.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting looking behind the scenes at the war against Iran’s proxies over the last 30, or so, years.

As the book was published in 2008, it would be interesting to see an update with the fall of Syria in the region and how this hindered the movement of supplies to terror groups in Lebanon.

The book didn’t touch too much on Iran in Iraq during US occupation. I’m assuming a lot of this hasn’t been released or information put out yet.

Lot of history here.

[Tamas Toth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very difficult but captivating read filled with an incredible amount of detail, sometimes so much so that it’s almost impossible to keep track of who is who. This is not a failure on the part of the author but a result of the vast complexity of the 30-year history, essentially of global politics, of the Middle East and other regions. Details are necessary.

A small part of me, an idealistic and naive schoolboy, just kept thinking about how small-minded and petty we still are, having the ability to create wonderful societies and cultures, but often opting to listen to our basest of instincts, engulfing the world in religious and economic and social turmoil. Large egos, religious fanatics, greedy financiers, psychopaths, and megalomaniacs still rule the skies and the earth.

Because of this, now, with another war in Gaza and Lebanon, we are all facing an existential threat. Things seem to have gotten much worse since 2008, and there is no end in sight.

I appreciate the incredible amount of research the author conducted to provide such an intriguing view into the individuals, organizations, and governments involved in this never-ending conflict. I also appreciate the neutral and non-biased delivery of a subject that is sure to divide actors and stakeholders across a wide swathe of societies. I will make sure to read a history book written by “the other side”, to find what their version of events are.

[Simon Grimm]

About 20% through, currently the book revolves around the 1982 Lebanon War and the subsequent formation of Hizbullah.

Particularly interesting: Unlike the PLO, the Hizbullah was far harder to penetrate for Israeli intelligence (which makes the more recent successes against Hizbullah more significant).

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back after a sabbatical

Back after a sabbatical, returning to this book in Aril 2026 does not feel like reading a book at all. It feels like reading a document that has already escaped its own boundaries. The text no longer sits quietly in the past; it leaks into the present, bleeds into headlines, echoes through live conflict.

What once appeared as investigative history now behaves like a script that reality has decided to perform—belatedly, noisily, and without restraint.

The unsettling part is not simply that Bergman was detailed. It is that the details no longer stay contained. The “secret war” he described—assassinations, sabotage, covert operations, intelligence manoeuvres—now appears less like a hidden layer of geopolitics and more like the submerged foundation of what has finally surfaced.

The book, in retrospect, reads like an archive of intentions that have lost their need for secrecy.

The shadows have not disappeared; they have expanded until they became indistinguishable from daylight.

Reading it now creates a strange temporal dislocation. You are simultaneously in two moments: the past where everything is covert, deniable, carefully managed—and the present, where denial has collapsed.

The experience is almost postmodern in its fragmentation. The narrative no longer belongs to one timeline. Instead, it flickers between “then” and “now,” exposing how artificial that distinction always was. The past was never past. It was simply quieter.

Bergman’s central premise—that the United States and Israel engaged in a prolonged, undeclared campaign to contain Iran—once carried the weight of revelation. It uncovered what official narratives preferred to obscure.

But in 2026, that premise no longer reveals anything new; it confirms what is already visible. The language of secrecy has become redundant.

Airstrikes, open retaliation, naval confrontations—these are not deviations from the book’s narrative but its amplification. The logic has not changed. Only the volume has.

What is striking, though, is how inevitable this amplification now feels. The book does not predict the present in a straightforward sense, yet it accumulates a pattern so dense that the present begins to appear as its natural extension.

The covert operations Bergman documents—cyberattacks, targeted killings, proxy conflicts—were never isolated acts. They were part of a sustained grammar of confrontation. And like any grammar, repetition produces meaning.

Over time, these acts cease to be exceptions and become structure.

This is where the illusion of containment begins to fracture. One of the implicit assumptions running through Bergman’s work is that covert action can manage escalation.

That precision—surgical strikes, intelligence-led interventions—can prevent full-scale war while still achieving strategic goals. It is a seductive idea, especially for modern states that prefer control without visibility. But reading the book now, that assumption feels less like strategy and more like a delayed consequence.

Because what we are witnessing is not a sudden escalation but a slow accumulation reaching its threshold.

The pressure that covert operations sought to regulate has not dissipated; it has condensed. And condensation, eventually, demands release. The current conflict—visible, disruptive, global in its effects—feels less like a breakdown of strategy and more like its logical conclusion.

Containment did not fail abruptly. It succeeded too well, for too long, until success itself became unsustainable.

There is something almost ironic in this. The very mechanisms designed to avoid open war may have prolonged the conditions that made it inevitable.

Secrecy, in this sense, functions not as prevention but as postponement. It delays recognition, diffuses accountability, and allows patterns to deepen without interruption.

By the time those patterns become visible, they are already entrenched.

At the same time, the book’s portrayal of Iran begins to feel incomplete—not because it is inaccurate, but because it is insufficient. Bergman frames Iran largely through the lenses of threat, ambition, and destabilization.

These are real dimensions, but they are not exhaustive. Reading the text now, you begin to notice the absences as much as the presences.

The narrative is shaped by the perspective of intelligence and security, and that perspective, by design, prioritizes certain kinds of information while marginalizing others.

The Iran that emerges in 2026 is more complex, more fractured, more entangled in its own contradictions. It is a state exerting power and a state under pressure, an aggressor and a site of internal unrest, a regional actor and a node in a global system of tension.

This does not negate Bergman’s account, but it destabilizes its coherence.

The story expands beyond its original frame, and in doing so, exposes the limits of any single narrative.

This expansion is where the book becomes most interesting as a postmodern text—not in its intention, but in its afterlife. It begins to read as one version among many, a perspective that must be held alongside others, sometimes in contradiction. The authority of the text does not disappear, but it becomes contingent.

It depends on where you are reading from, when you are reading, and what has happened since it was written.

The intelligence mindset that Bergman captures so effectively also undergoes a kind of transformation under this new light. In the book, intelligence operations appear precise, controlled, almost clinical.

There is a sense of mastery—of systems understood, targets identified, outcomes anticipated. It is a world where information translates into action with a high degree of confidence.

But the present complicates that image. The outcomes no longer appear controlled. The chain of cause and effect becomes tangled, unpredictable. Actions generate reactions that exceed their intended scope.

What once seemed like calculated interventions now look like triggers within a much larger, less manageable system. The precision remains at the level of execution, but the consequences resist precision.

This tension between control and unpredictability is one of the book’s most revealing aspects when read today. It exposes a fundamental contradiction: the belief that complex geopolitical realities can be managed through targeted, limited actions. The current moment suggests otherwise.

Complexity does not yield to control; it amplifies it, distorts it, and eventually overwhelms it.

And yet, despite all this, the book retains a strange explanatory power. It does not tell you what is happening now, but it helps you recognize the patterns that made it possible.

The cycles of mistrust, retaliation, and proxy conflict that Bergman documents do not disappear; they intensify.

The present begins to look less like a rupture and more like a revelation. What was hidden is not replaced—it is revealed in a different form.

This is perhaps the most unsettling realization. The war we see now is not new. It is the same war, stripped of its discretion. The continuity is eerie. It suggests that the distinction between covert and overt conflict is not as significant as it appears.

Both operate within the same logic; they differ only in visibility.

The metaphor that keeps returning is that of a structure under stress. Bergman’s book maps the architecture—its design, its internal tensions, its fault lines. But it stops short of collapse. Reading it now, you are aware of the collapse as you read about the structure.

Every detail carries a double meaning: what it was, and what it has become.

This duality transforms the reading experience into something almost reflexive. You are not just reading the book; you are reading your own awareness of it.

You notice how your interpretation shifts with each page, how the present reshapes the past, how meaning is not fixed but produced in the act of reading.

The text becomes unstable, not because it is unclear, but because it is too clear in a context that has changed.

Even the idea of “history” begins to feel inadequate here. The book is not history in the traditional sense; it is a record of processes that are still unfolding. It resists closure.

There is no definitive endpoint, no moment where the narrative can be neatly concluded. Instead, it extends into the present, and by extension, into the future.

This lack of closure is not a flaw. It is, in many ways, the book’s most honest feature. It acknowledges, perhaps unintentionally, that the conflicts it describes are not events but conditions. They persist, evolve, adapt.

They cannot be resolved through a single act or understood through a single narrative.

Returning to the text after a sabbatical, there is also a personal dimension that cannot be ignored. Distance changes reading. Time alters perception. What once felt analytical now feels immediate. What once seemed distant now feels implicated.

The book does not change, but you do—and that change becomes part of the reading.

There is a temptation to look for answers in such a text, to extract lessons, to identify what could have been done differently. But the book resists that as well. It does not offer solutions; it offers exposure. It shows how systems operate, how decisions accumulate, how narratives are constructed. What you do with that exposure is left unresolved.

And perhaps that is the most fitting way to read it now. Not as a guide, not as a warning, but as a fragment of a larger, ongoing story.

A fragment that reveals as much about the act of storytelling as it does about the events it describes.

Because in the end, what ‘The Secret War with Iran’ reveals is not just a conflict between nations, but a conflict between narratives—between what is said and what is done, between what is visible and what is hidden, between history as it is written and history as it is lived.

The discomfort lies in recognizing that these distinctions are not stable. They shift, overlap, collapse.

And when they do, the story changes—not because new facts emerge, but because the frame through which those facts are understood has been altered.

Somewhere in that shifting frame, the book continues to exist—not as a finished account, but as an active participant in the way we make sense of what is happening.

It does not conclude. It lingers.

Give it a go by all means.

[Oceanix · Rating 5 out of 5]

The thing I like about journalists are the books that they write, because a journalist, especially an independent journalist that isn't obliged to fulfil the goals and ambitions of any mega industry, has the liberty to write in accordance to their own conscience.

unfortunately ronan bergman as an author and a journalist is constrained refined and restricted in his ability to completely and freely express himself and his opinions and his views and even facts within of his books but that is not to say that this is a bad book because the same principles and restrictions are held upon anyone from any country, especially in regards to sensitive information which acts as an expose towards their government and their actions.

Another heavy yoke involved with any book of this nature is the fact Israeli Zionists have a heavy patriotic zeal and pledged allegiance to their own country which quickly and easily dispatches a biased lens onto media that is presented from the people that inhabit that country. not saying that that is a problem that lies with Israeli Zionists alone but it lies with anyone from any country as that is the nature of citizens.

If this is not a personal attribute to a citizen, then that citizen is generally classed by their own state government as a defect.

These variables and facts present an obstacle when it comes to obtaining the truth in regards to anything. Relatively speaking, in this case, it is in regards to the Thirty Year War with Iran and Israel.

But the creation of the State of Israel is probably the worst thing the Jews ever did. Because before Israel ever existed, the Jewish people only existed as a shadow religion behind governments, countries and cultures. They were never in of themselves a coagulated state religion.

Since World War II, the Jews immigrated into Palestine, and this was the beginning of their plight and their malevolent saga. That is not to say that all Jewish people are innately evil, for that would be a false statement. Rather, Israel itself is divided into three factions, secular, Zionist and religious. One could say that Zionism is a religion, which might be true, but it is also a political movement and a force that desires to create a stable safe state for Jewish people. But in order to create that stable safe state it has to create an unstable unsafe state that surrounds them.

the reason I have not yet reviewed this book but rather voiced my opinion is due to the fact that I have read other reviews saying that this book is misleading information and perverted propaganda which is entirely untrue probably because it's spoken by patriotic people who have a bias against Israel or maybe for Iran or for America or for whatever reason they have their opinion which is in of itself biased which means they are providing an inadequate review of this book.

I personally do not have a proposition for or a contra for Christianity, Islam or Judaism or for the West or the East or for the USA, Israel or Iran. In fact, I hold the position of a Gnostic and if you do not know or understand the principle values or inherent beliefs of a Gnostic, then you would not understand the review provided by one. But if I was to summarize a review provided by a Gnostic, I would have to say that the review is Totally neutral if not negative regardless of the person or entity being critiqued. In fact, a genuine Gnostic wouldn't even bother reviewing such a book if he or she was not put into a position where they were surrounded with nothing other than earthly affairs and are merely forced to review such a thing out of pure boredom. That being said, I do think there is some minor advantage in reading such books as this, because what it does is give you a perspective in regards to a political movement or a religious movement that holds true to the same pattern as any other political or religious movement. Once you can formulate and determine the underlying pattern for anyone or any group, you can then determine their psychological integrity which ultimately makes them in differentiable to anyone else.

Now, in regards to this book, the events described, I presume, are transparent and historical, which would remove the so-called bias that one could presume the author would have due to the fact that he is a native Israelite. Obviously, all books of this nature have their distortions which are unavoidable. But if you as a reader are able to acknowledge and recognise those distortions, you can simply remove and change that in your own mind, despite the fact that the distortion remains on the paper, which makes this book a very good book because ultimately I believe that this book is an expose of the events occurring in Iran and Israel and anywhere else that is relevant to the domestic affairs of the Middle East. I know that this author has written other books and I have read other books written by this author which are very good and I know that The Israeli government has attempted to cease the publication of those books, which tells me one thing, that the author is providing information which is undesirable for the State of Israel.
If you can obtain such information, it doesn't matter who your source is, if that information is accurate, then it is worth reading and worth knowing. Obviously this book is about a 30 year war with Iran and the book is only 400 pages. So there are silly people saying that this book is a short-hand document, but of course, what else would it be? It's 30 years put into a 400 page book. Silly reviewers need to wake up.

Glad to read this book, happy to learn about what's written in there and also I think there's information written in here from the Islamic government's side which probably would not be known or released to the general public due to obvious reasons but here we are. We have access to this information and I'm glad that we do have that access. I cannot enumerate or disclose every single minute detail written within this book. Even if you read the entire book, you yourself could probably not remember everything that was written in this book. And even if you did, ten years after you've read the book, you would most likely forget 80% of what is written in this book. That being said, I would like to say that the information written in the book is delightful to read because it is not common information that you would hear from a standard podcast or interview online, even from officials in Iran or officials in Israel or from any qualified journalist of any kind, because the person who wrote this book has access to information that the general public does not have access to.

The beginning of the book describes the beginning of the Ayatollah government, which I find to be very fascinating. The transition from the Shah government, which has peaceful relations with Israel and the USA, transitions to the Ayatollah government, which has no peaceful relations, rather it has hostile relations to Israel and the USA. So the description of the uprising of the Ayatollah government in my opinion is highly fascinating because he goes into details about the nature of the government being apolitical and basically ignorant in regards to how to govern a country. He also talks about how the government inherited the military of the Shah, which it probably wasn't ready to inherit because the government was based from religious doctrine. Anyone who studies the Qur'an would know that the current Ayatollah government is not adjacent to it and its teachings. But the Ayatollah government believes that it is adjacent to it and that it follows those beliefs and teachings stringently, so much so that it pushes those beliefs and teachings onto the people with coercion, which can be seen as oppression. Not only that, but the emotional attributes and actions of the government do not reflect the behaviour that is taught by the Quran.

which obviously doesn't reflect the Quran, rather it reflects the civilians and citizens of Iran who are not a peacefull people but the average person who has no relations with a native iranian would not know that,.

Christianity, Judaism and Islam are all perverted religions. But this book specifically talks about a history that we in the so-called West are not aware of for a number of reasons. The primary reason being that we don't want to know or we don't actually care. But it's not until you want to know and you actually care that you will realise that this particular book is a good resource to learn about historical events in regards to Iran's government.

Many civilians from Israel have been writing, publishing and releasing books to the general public of humanity. In the case of Ronan Bergman, he is a patriotic Zionist, which in of itself causes him to have a lack of internal bias due to the corruption that is threaded throughout the Zionist movement and the Zionist government. This depleted bias acts as a detriment to Israel itself. Because if Israel wishes to conceal certain information, they have failed to do so due to the calcified conscience of the internal civilian of Israel that is writing the book, and no longer has the necessary filtration required in order to conceal or reveal information. Rather, they simply reveal anything because the Zionist movement natively considers that everyone is a subset human and that Israel is a superior human because one is chosen by God and the other is rejected by God.

The lack of bias from the author has created an indifference, exposing the inner mechanisms and working of the Zionist government. If you read the book, you can learn of these indifferences. An example is the explanation of an interrogation used by Israelis on Israelis, which is homosexual rape as disgusting and confronting detail which is being written in the book nonetheless, regardless of consequences. They are literally using such tactics not on their enemies alone but also on their own people, which says a lot for that government and how malevolent it actually is. Not only does he reveal such intimate details,
he also reveals details that the State of Israel itself would call a conspiracy theory. That is, the implementation of the book of the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion Other notable descriptions described in this book would be that Hezbollah and Hamas have no personal corruption, which also contrives the mainstream narrative presented to the world in regards to the behaviors of these sections.

Reading books like this really puts a new light on the affairs of Israel, which certainly dampens mainstream podcasts by people like Piers Morgan or Joe Rogan. So, if you are an individual that prefers to know things rather than hear things, then I certainly would encourage you to read books such as this one or other books similar to it.

[Michael Hutchison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the first book by Bergman that I read, "Rise and Kill first", better than this one. There is a lot of information in this book. A lot of bad people. Maybe they are all bad people. One thing I do is take note of the language being used. The assignment of labels. I think in this book Bergman is painting a good side bad side with the labels he uses. Israeli's are good, always on the defensive, forced to fight by aggressive terrorists and murderers on the other side. the other side is always planning and skulking to get at Israel but Israel is just trying to get along. How much of that is true or not true I don't know, but I did not like the flavor of it. I can see that every day in the corporate media. The last chapter of the book reinforces the stereotypes. that is why I only gave it three stars.

[Umair Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Indeed a very good read , especially the description about the counterfeit currency and the clandestine Iranian Nuclear development and its wide spread ramifications... Ronen Bergman has been very objective in his analysis, sometimes even critical about the lack of coordination between the different Israelis intelligence agencies..His account on the emergence of Hizbullah is remarkable..All in all, a ripper...

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 3 out of 5]

the wild Amazone

Publishers Weekly

Drawing on an astonishing amount of research, Israeli journalist Bergman describes in fascinating detail the three-decade intelligence struggle between Iran and the West. It is a grim history dominated by a series of failures, including the rise of Iranian proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran's alliance with Syria and the regime's success in shielding its nuclear program from international scrutiny. Despite some recent Iranian setbacks—e.g., the 2007 Israeli Ghost Raid against a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor—Bergman concludes that Middle Eastern skies have not looked so gloomy for a long time. Among the revelations certain to resonate in the U.S. is Bergman's contention that a secret file exists that proves unequivocally that George H.W. Bush surely knew about all the illegal goings-on in the Iran-Contra scandal—something Bush has always denied. Bergman stops short of recommending a course of action, but he makes a convincing case that Iran is not only a terrorist state but also the greatest security challenge the U.S. is facing. Thoroughly researched and persuasively argued, Bergman's brief against Iran adds a powerful voice to a contentious debate.

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Seminal book - Well written

Superbly written book laying bare the stupidity of American foreign policy of keeping Iran as they number one enemy in the Middle East when in fact, it's the Sunni led countries that have worked the most to harm the US

Shows how commercial considerations driven by cheap oil has replaced notions of fair play and doing the right thing

The fig leaf that all national security mavens use of Realpolitik, while pursuing an increasingly commerce and ideology driven foreign policy has ensured that the only nation that hasn't proactively sought to harm the US unlike the Saudis who contributed to the Oil shock and 9/11 in a big way has been targeted

It's only natural that everyone who's being persecuted unfairly would strike back against their oppressor and that's what this book has detailed very well

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[Vijay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a 3.5*, not 4. There's much detail and much of it is anecdotal, but there is insufficient detail on how and why certain actions were taken. For example, why is there no discussion on initiatives taken by the Israelis to negotiate. Why is there no revelations that perhaps it is the Israeli's through their policy of sea to sea or river to sea? On top of that where's the mention of Plan D? That is to rid the Palestinians from their homes.

See, much of this along with the Gaza barricade, is perhaps the reasons why the hostilities take place and why the sunnis and shiites may team up.

The book does a commendable job in what I call highlighting atrocities inflicted upon the Israelis and their military lapses. But it does nothing to poke why the hostilities take place in the first place.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book covering a lot of ground with regard Iran and the regional struggle of the past 30 years or so. I read his book on the Mossad first which covers a lot of the same material so there was not anything all that revealing here based on that and some other books I have read. However it is always interesting to read what people think prior to events as this was published in 2007/2008.

There is such a paradox in Israel and the United States dealing with Iran. If they push and fight hard, it confirms all that the Iranian regime claims and thinks about the US and Israel. If they loosen things up, invariably, Iran directly or through its proxies, takes advantage somehow thus proving the hardliners in the US/Israel correct.

Neither side feels they can give an inch or else their regime will be toppled and their nation taken over. So what are we to do?

[Antonio Nunez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although fairly dated (it was finished around 2018) this is a magnificent primer on the relations between Iran and Israel from the time of the Shah. I didn’t know that Reza Pahlavi agreed to pay the Israelis to develop nuclear weapons for Iran, and that, had the Islamic Revolution of 1979 happened a couple of years later, it is possible Iran may have already been armed with nukes. It was interesting to reread about the Iran-Contra fiasco that nearly brought down the Reagan presidency (he was saved by his meeting with Gorbachev in Reykjavik in 1986, where the arms control negotiations provided vital political oxygen). And rhetoric origins of Hezbollah, Hamas and other Shiite movements inspired by Iran across the region. I was surprised to learn that several Iranian leaders maintained links to Israel, that Ayatollah Khomeini though nukes were anti-Islamic weapons, so that he had to die before his successors changed this view and began the nuclear weapons program. That Hafez Al-Assad offered to deliver Khomeini to the Shah, but the Shah demurred and instead agreed to have Khoneini exiled to France, where he set up the movement that would overthrow the monarchy and set up a theocracy. That Khomeini was the posthumous son of a famous Koranic scholar, and this was regarded as cursed. That he was quite unremarkable until his sixties when he supposedly had a holy vision that changed him into the magnetic leader the world came to know. This book is highly recommended to better understand the origins of the current crisis in the Levant.

[Mehrdad · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would call this book The secret war with Iran: A Hollywood/BBC narrative"

Why?

Striped off of its narrative, the book is a list of mostly accurate dates, events and characters. However, the narrative is childishly biased and ignorant if not purposefully insidious.


American Marines and French paratroops aim to "...bring peace to Lebanon and to end the bloody civil war..." While Hezbollah (A Lebanese milita group)"...stared at foreign fighters living in barracks with murder in its eyes.". This statement is blindly ignorant of the fact that a large number of Lebanese people, including Christians, support Hezbollah and that in fact, had it not been for the presence of Israeli and other foreign forces, there wouldn't have been any reason for Hezbollah to be created in the first place.

The author is very descriptive and detailed in its account of stories that happen to Israelis and Americans or Iranian opposition but again demonstrates a callous disregard for anybody else.

P91 paragraph 3
The author doesn't feel the need for any evidence or reason when it comes to accusing Iranians or other "enemies". He simply states "facts". Mohtasashamipour soon have moghniyeh an order. Start using hostage taking as a weapon.
How does he know this? Is he sure? What's the evidence? We are just to trust him.

Everything on the enemy front is depicted as being religiously driven. Muslims, shias, the Islamist extremists, etc. One could only imagine an alternative course to the book had the Israeli side of the story been told from the se point of view. Zionism, Jewish extremism, Zionist expansion, settler colonialism, etc. But no, despite its precarious global legal status, Isreal is pictured as a established state threatened by terrorists. Absolutely nothing is mentioned about homes and schools being demolished Evey day to accommodate more Zionists from all over the world who move to Israel because of their promised land, their religious duty.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated this book. Aside from the fact that I found it insanely boring, it was a book of opinions. I like nonfiction books that teach me things and elaborate on events and people that interest me. I do not like to read newspaper opinion columns in the long form of a book. Thank goodness I bought this used, or I would really be upset that I paid retail price for that. I went into this book hoping to learn about the rise of terrorist activities in the Middle East over the years, but I was sorely let down. I do not recommend this book in any way, shape, or form.

[Willie Kirschner · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an interesting book about the ongoing conflict between between Iran, Israel and the US, as well as the involvement of Hezbollah, Hamas and Syria. Unfortunately, this book was written in 2009, and I am real interested in his analysis of the agreement Obama made with Iran, and Trump’s withdrawal from it and what has happened since then.

[Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent, given my limited knowledge, and suitably critical. But in the final 10% it starts carrying water for Netanyahu and bends over backwards trying to justify Bush II's lies about WMD in Iraq. And the whole book does nothing to consider strategic alternatives that must work better than what it describes.

[LNae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book lays out 30 years worth of evidence of a wart between Iran & Israel (along with the US and the west), the failures and successes of each side and the relationship between different groups both nation/states and non nation/states. Bergman is an easy author to follow.

[Roy McCullough · Rating 5 out of 5]

First published in 2008, this book has in many respects been overtaken by more recent events. Nevertheless, it remains a useful introduction and backgrounder to the long and shadowy conflict waged by Iran and its proxies against Israel and the West.

[Sudesh Katugampola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting read

[Ilana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well documented, it brings out many relevant details and nuances in what it looks like a never ending conflict. Good information relevant for the last decade Middle Eastern terror map as well.

[Gwen A · Rating 4 out of 5]

same author of Rise and Kill First, so a little biased by the Israeli perspective. Still a fantastic book.

[Siddhartha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not just a book but a case study on the subject. Thoroughly researched to-the-minute-details

[Oumaima Hassoun]

Politics= the industry of hopes and lies.

[kamal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book actually puts a lot of things in perspective on relations between Israel and Iran. Its almost like a bitter divorce between two couples with irreconcilable differences and how they feel that the other should be indebted to it but the reality being far from the truth. This book sheds light on the machinations by the west and employment of Israel to topple a legitimately democratically government so as to install a pliable Monarch to profit from Gas and oil finds in the middle east. The investments by the west and particularly by Israel in sectors like military, intelligence, agriculture and politics were actually done with an aim to convert Iran into a pliant state and reap the profits at the expense of developing state. All was well till the introduction of Radical Islam and the fall of the Shah and that is when things started to get sour. The fact that Israel was willing to do business with Iran in spite of all things wrong, shows that the Israelis were still trying to make a profit by engaging with a country which has been described in modern times as its mortal enemy. The evolution of the conflict to the realm of cyber and AI clearly demonstrate that Israel has still not accepted their loss in investment and will go all out to create a pliant government in Iran in future. The fact that it still has traction in Iran to carry out strikes in Iran against elements which it considers inimical to its interests shows that there is a population which is aggrieved by radicalism and Israel will do whatever in its power to bring about change to improve relations with Iran. This book is actually informative and would serve as a precursor for anybody interested in understanding the future of Israel Iran relations.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great dive into the history of the tensions between Iran, Israel, Hammas, Hizballah, and the US. This book is packed with lots of information and you can tell it was very well researched. The author also does a decent job of trying to discuss the issues without obvious bias.

[Morteza Paidar]

good

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought the book without really knowing what to expect. I was hoping for more insight into the Iranian regime, but the story really focuses on the role of intelligence services. When I saw it was written by an Israeli journalist, I was afraid it would be biased. Well I can't say it is, it is collection of facts, but there is definitely a point of view. For example, a Hezbollah attack on a military target is a "terrorist act", while a Mossad bombing is not qualified in the same way (though the author does not defend it). Likewise, between the lines you surely can feel what the opinions of the author are. It is just semantic but referring to Iranians or Israelis rather than the Iranian regime or Israeli regime is probably also an unfortunate generalization.
Nevertheless it is really worth reading, and a true eye opener. On one side, it sheds light on the decisive role of western intelligence organizations and their “undemocratic” actions. Despite the rumors and reputation of Mossad, I wasn’t aware of the extend of their deeds. On the other side, for anyone who would still doubt (and I did) the intentions of the Iranian regime especially since Khamenei took over, this gives an interesting perspective.
So surely worth reading, but I would recommend to also read some other books with different points of view (Maziar Bahari’s “Then they came for me” for an inside view of Iran, or “Pity the Nation” for the story of the Lebanon wars and the role of Israel, etc..).