How can torture be both banned and common practice? The answer lies in the Israeli Shin Bet’s history, where secrecy has prevailed.

Alice Rothchild grew up with a deep love for Israel, the redemptive, out-of the-ashes, kibbutz-loving, feisty little country that could do no wrong. Yet she writes, “it is often said, if we don’t know our history, we are destined and doomed to repeat it.”