Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel
The assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin remains the single most consequential event in Israel's recent history, and one that fundamentally altered the trajectory for both Israel and the Palestinians. In Killing a King, Dan Ephron relates the parallel stories of Rabin and his stalker, Yigal Amir, over the two years leading up to the assassination, as one of them planned political deals he hoped would lead to peace, and the other plotted murder. "Carefully reported, clearly presented, concise and gripping," It stands as "a reminder that what happened on a Tel Aviv sidewalk 20 years ago is as important to understanding Israel as any of its wars" (Matti Friedman, The Washington Post).
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Exceptional...an electrifying political narrative twinned with an old-fashioned crime story--of the sort that ought to be taught in journalism schools for its restraint, pacing and expert creation of suspense.... The book is a Greek tragedy told in split screen, a frame-for-frame chronicle of a deplorable death foretold.... This tragedy ends, as so many do, with pride, suffering and fear on terrible display. It's the flickering reel of fateful choices and desperate last moments that I'll remember most.--Jennifer Senior
Incisive.... In a crisp and lively narrative, Ephron walks the reader through the assassination itself and its aftermath...[and] infuses his book with relevance by circling back to bigger questions.--Ilene Prusher
A clear-eyed account...captures the way politics in this young and tiny country are uniquely and deeply personal.
Carefully reported, clearly presented, concise and gripping...a reminder that what happened on a Tel Aviv sidewalk 20 years ago is as important to understanding Israel as any of its wars.--Matti Friedman
An authoritative narrative that will serve as a valuable record of history. It is also a page-turner...practically every page carries the tense energy of fresh insight.--David K. Shipler
If the story of Yitzhak Rabin and Yigal Amir has anything to teach, it's that individuals matter...The opportunity that Rabin was trying to seize?however small?was there for a moment, and it may never come again.--Dexter Filkins
Both a sharply etched political thriller and a meditation on all that has gone wrong in the Promised Land.--Glenn Frankel, former Jerusalem bureau chief for The Washington Post and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting
