“As an elite sea commando, Ami Ayalon saw terrorists as targets. As an intelligence professional, he had to learn to see them as people. Twenty years after retirement, he presents his nuanced view to the international community in a new book. While his message is especially prescient for policymakers and counterterrorism practitioners, Ayalon narrates his story through the lens of his own life and changing conceptions, bringing an emotional salience to the topic of counterterrorism. Discussions of the Israel-Palestine conflict often have a deep emotional component. In the case of Friendly Fire, however, the emotions that run through the memoir do not cloud Ayalon’s judgement, but rather force the readers to acknowledge their own biases.”
Molly Ellenberg is a member of the IPF Atid Washington, D.C. Steering Committee.
