Story Syndicate and Abot Hameiri to adapt “Rise and Kill First”

Production company Story Syndicate has partnered with Israel-based Abot Hameiri to adapt a chapter from “Rise and Kill First,” the latest book from critically-acclaimed author and New York Times journalist Ronen Bergman, into a scripted limited series. The New York-based film and television production company founded by Liz Garbus and Dan Cogan, and Guy Hameiri’s Abot Hameiri, will adapt the stranger-than-life true story of the partnership between Israel’s Mossad and a former Nazi general Otto Skorzeny to thwart an existential threat to Israel’s existence.

The series tells the story of how Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser secretly hires a team of former Nazi missile scientists to build a missile program that could destroy Israel. When Israeli prime minister David Ben Gurion learns of it, the young Israeli Mossad initiates a campaign of espionage, kidnappings, extortions, and assassinations that slows down but does not eliminate the threat. The Israelis then turn to the unthinkable – seducing a former Nazi General and Hitler’s special operation chief, Otto Skorzeny, into cooperating with them to eviscerate the program from the inside.

The story comprises one chapter of Bergman’s thrilling book “Rise and Kill First,” which he discovered while researching his magisterial history of Israel’s targeted assassination program. In 2017, Bergman received the Sokolov Award, the highest Israeli prize for journalism, and was called “arguably Israel’s best investigative journalist” by New Yorker editor David Remnick.

“This is the ultimate spy story, replete with the original James Bond, a nascent Mossad and Israel facing its extinction,” commented Doug Liman, who is set to direct and oversee the development of the show. David Bartis will also produce through Hypnotic.

Dan Cogan and Liz Garbus, Founders of Story Syndicate, added: “This is one of the strangest, most surprising and dramatic true stories we have encountered in some time. It is an extraordinary spy-thriller and character drama, and we’re so excited to partner with Doug and Guy to bring it to life.”

Guy Hameiri, Co-Founder of Abot Hameiri, said: “This is a remarkable account from one of the most controversial and thrilling stories in Israel's history. It’s incredibly exciting to be working with Doug and Dan, who share an irresistible vision for this project and are the perfect creative team to bring this dramatic story to life.”

Lastly, Ronen Bergman remarked: “This story recounts one of the most dramatic episodes in the history of Israeli intelligence operations. Israel, a little more than just one decade old, was facing an existential danger. The Mossad and other branches of the Israeli defense establishment were late in discovering the program, and realized that there was only one man who could save the situation. He had been described by British intelligence as 'the most dangerous man in Europe' and had been a favorite of Hitler’s. But how do you go about recruiting a wealthy, well-connected Nazi?”