About the Author

Admiral (Ret.) Ami Ayalon is the former commander of the Israeli navy, director of the Shin Bet security agency, cabinet minister, Knesset member, and recipient of the Medal of Valour, Israel’s highest military decoration. He organised and was featured in the Academy Award-nominated documentary The Gatekeepers.


Anthony David, a historian and biographer, teaches creative writing at the University of New England’s campus in Tangier, Morocco.

Reviews

‘How can a staunch Zionist who was raised on one of Israel’s earliest settlements and trained as a kill-or-be-killed elite commando spearhead a campaign for peace with his enemies? The answer, in Ami Ayalon’s captivating narrative, is an eye-opener for Palestinians and Israelis alike.’
*Sari Nusseibeh, author of Once Upon a Country: a Palestinian life, former president of the Al-Quds University and former Palestinian National Authority representative in Jerusalem*

‘Remarkable.’
*Monocle*

‘Fascinating and well-written.’
*Jewish Chronicle*

‘[Friendly Fire] is a personal, intellectual and philosophical journey.’
*Haaretz*

‘[Ayalon’s] aims and accomplishments are … undeniably impressive … Hope finds a prominent presence in what so many think is a hopeless, endless conflict.’
*Kirkus Reviews*

‘Ami Ayalon discusses how he came to see a two-state solution with the Palestinians as the best way to ensure Israel's security, not just through analysing numbers and statistics, but through a humanistic approach. He discusses … how his humanist paradigm not only allowed him to see how the Palestinians’ grievances and aspirations are intertwined with Israel’s security, but also how he still acknowledges and sympathises with the narratives of those in Israel whom he may disagree with.’
*The Times of Israel*

‘Friendly Fire is not simply a critique, but a strong mandate for a complete overhaul of Israel's policy toward countering Palestinian terrorism — with clear lessons for counterterrorism policy far beyond the region … [A] powerful critique of the Israeli politicians on both the left and right … [A] story of immense bravery: bravery to speak truth to power; bravery to speak out against injustice — even when it is committed on one’s behalf and in one's name; bravery to acknowledge one’s own participation in and responsibility for such injustice; and, finally, bravery to demand accountability from oneself and from others.’
*Molly Ellenberg, Modern War Institute*

‘Friendly Fire is full of fascinating anecdotes from a life lived on the sidelines of some of the most momentous events in the recent history of the Middle East.’
*Dubbo Mailbox Shopper*

‘[A] compact, compelling memoir … [S]moothly written … [A]fter Ayalon retired as head of Shin Bet he decided almost everything he had done as a soldier and a supervisor of secret agents had actually reduced the prospects for peace and security.’
*The Guardian*

‘[A]n idealistic, yet sober and realistic, vision of what is needed to advance the prospects of peace.’
*The Times of Israel*

‘Reading Ayalon’s revealing book, one can see that he has come a long way. Perhaps his most commendable conclusion is that Israel will never achieve peace until “we change the narrative about the past and admit to ourselves that the Palestinians have a right to their own country alongside Israel, and on land we claim as ours”.’
*The Nation*