Bibi Netanyahu’s War Room Book Club
When your spy thriller ends up on the Israeli Prime Minister’s desk mid-war, you know the stakes aren’t just fictional.
Hey everyone,
Back again. And this time, we’re diving into something that reads like a spy thriller, only it's real, and everyone in it is armed.
I just had a bracing conversation with Yonah Jeremy Bob and Ilan Evyatar, co-authors of Target Tehran: How Israel is Using Sabotage, Cyber Warfare, Assassination, and Secret Diplomacy to Stop a Nuclear Iran and Create a New Middle East — a title so long it could double as a Mossad dossier.
The book came out in 2023, but in a turn that surprises absolutely no one paying attention, it's suddenly more relevant than ever.
Case in point: a photo just emerged showing Netanyahu, mid-war room, the book proudly perched on his desk like it’s the Torah. If that’s not a five-star Goodreads review, what is?
And talk about prescient, The recent bombing of Iran? Target Tehran more or less forecasted this very moment.
But there’s a lot more to the book than that. The espionage side is, frankly, bonkers.
We’re talking about Mossad agents swiping an entire nuclear archive from under Iran’s nose, like something out of Mission: Impossible. Fourteen scientists dead, one taken out hours before a ceasefire.
It’s surgical.
It’s audacious.
And it’s the kind of thing that makes you wonder why we bother writing fiction anymore.
Oh, and in case you were wondering whether this was all too serious, don’t worry — we also got into theology (Israel’s biblical identity — a topic spawned from the Ted Cruz/Tucker Carlson debate).
Give the episode a listen, grab a copy of the book, and maybe pour yourself a drink.
Who Are Those Masked Men?
In other news, my latest column for The Hill deals with the problem of ICE agents tackling immigrants while wearing masks that conceal their identities.
Here’s an excerpt:
Kurt Vonnegut once wrote, “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” Nietzsche put it more bluntly: “Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster.”
The moral? When men begin to dress like soldiers and vigilantes, we shouldn’t be surprised when they start acting like both.
The second problem is more straightforward and potentially more dangerous: When real law enforcement abandons clearly identifiable uniforms and professional procedures, it becomes easier for imposters to step in.
You can read the whole thing here.
Last Call: Meet Me Tomorrow in Arlington, VA
If you’ve a center-right person who has ever thought about launching a Substack newsletter, YouTube channel, or audio podcast — even just a little — I highly recommend attending a “Content Creator Bootcamp” that I’m helping run this Thursday at The Leadership Institute in Arlington, Virginia.
It’s just $15(!) and features insights from me, RealClearPolitics’ Carl Cannon, and 24Sight News founder Tom LoBianco.
Sign up today. I hope to see you there!
— Matt
I really appreciate and enjoy your wry humor!