The Israeli security services are one of the most secret organizations on earth, which is ensured by a complex system of laws and instructions, strict military censorship, intimidation, interrogation and criminal prosecution of journalists and their sources, as well as solidarity and loyalty of personnel. Before Ronen Bergman undertook the investigative journalism that resulted in this monumental work, all attempts to look behind the scenes at dramatic events in which Israel co-starred were episodic at best. None of the thousands of interviews on which this book is based, given by people as diverse as political leaders and intelligence chiefs to mere operatives, have ever been approved by Israel's military elite, and none of the thousands of documents these people gave to Bergman have been allowed to be made public. A huge amount of previously classified data is published for the first time.