Killing a King

By: Dan Ephron

Narrated by: Assaf Cohen

Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's Summary

A riveting story about the murder that changed a nation: the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

The assassination of 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. Killing a King 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.

Dan Ephron, who reported from the Middle East for much of the past two decades, covered both the rally where Rabin was killed and the subsequent murder trial. He describes how Rabin, a former general who led the army in the Six Day War of 1967, embraced his nemesis, Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat, and set about trying to resolve the 20th century's most vexing conflict. He recounts in agonizing detail how extremists on both sides undermined the peace process with ghastly violence. And he reconstructs the relentless scheming of Amir, a 25-year-old law student and Jewish extremist who believed that Rabin's peace effort amounted to a betrayal of Israel and the Jewish people.

As Amir stalked Rabin over many months, the agency charged with safeguarding the Israeli leader missed key clues, overlooked intelligence reports, and then failed to protect him at the critical moment, in November 1995. It was the biggest security blunder in the agency's history.

Through the prism of the assassination, much about Israel today comes into focus, from the paralysis in peacemaking to the fraught relationship between current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama. Based on Israeli police reports, interviews, confessions, and the cooperation of both Rabin's and Amir's families, Killing a King is a tightly coiled narrative that reaches an inevitable, shattering conclusion. One can't help but wonder what Israel would look like today had Rabin lived.

©2015 Dan Ephron (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Tragic history well presented.

I want to focus on the narration. It is a real pleasure to listen to Assaf Cohen's excellent reading. He is clearly a fluent speaker of Hebrew whose pronunciations are smooth, accurate and beautiful. I find many Audiobooks on Jewish and Israel related topics rendered unlistenable by otherwise competent readers who massacre the Hebrew words in the books. I have often wondered why competent readers were not insisted upon by publishers and authors. I hope to hear Mr. Cohen's narrations again and I hope his choice represents a commitment to accuracy in narration.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Stunning narrative

Dan Ephron was the Jerusalem Bureau Chief for Newsweek magazine. Ephron did intensive research for this book. He searched through court records, obtained confessional material, conducted family interviews, and dissected police reports in order to piece together the story. The book narrows in on the rally during which Rabin was killed, and then shifts its focus to the murder trial of the assassin.

Ephron traces the parallel stories of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his assassin Yigal Amir for the two years leading up to the assassination in 1995. Ephron examines the two men’s thoughts and actions placing them within the context of the anti-government rhetoric of the Israeli religious rightwing. Ephron shows how the assassination, with its far-reaching political repercussions, found a turning point for Israel, derailing the delicate peace process that had been in place.

Ephron attempts to interpret the lessons learned from the dissolution of the peace talks and speculates about how the Middle East might look today if Rabin had not been assassinated. I enjoyed the forensic drama at the end of the book regarding the mysterious hole in Rabin shirt. The book provides the reader with a better understanding of the political situation in Israel. Assaf Cohen does a good job narrating the book.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

History at Its Most Interesting

well told story of the struggle of Israel. This was very interesting perspective. Not found in many other publications.

Excellent reporting and analysis of the murder of Yitzhak Rabin

This book is well worth reading in order to better understand the impact of Rabin's assassination

Oh, what might have been.

A very sad story, majestically written based on exhaustive research. This book leads me to ask, wouldn't it be nice if we could put all the religious fanatics from all the religions into one small room and leave them to their own devices to work out their differences relating to what they each know God wants, while leaving the rest of us out of it.

all faceted account of Rabin's assassination

Great insights by the author into the many aspects surrounding the political environment, precipitating events, and struggles surrounding the assassination of Rabin in 1994.

Even a serious book and be enjoyed.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would. It struck me as objectively researched and presented.

What did you like best about this story?

Unlike most conspiracy theories this book was not written as self-serving infotainment, but was objectively researched and presented.

What three words best describe Assaf Cohen’s performance?

Objectively narrated.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Perhaps it was all moving.

Any additional comments?

A mind opening experience and sorry to come to the last page.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful