Israeli Security Concepts

There is a perception that anything coming from Israel involving security must be useful and legitimate because of the nation’s long history of having to fiercely defend itself on all sides. Choose your experts wisely, says Garret Machine, author of Israeli Security Concepts. Born in Miami, Machine served in the Israeli Defense Force, and worked as a bodyguard for the Israel Ministry of Defense and the Israeli National Police Force, before returning to the United States as a security consultant.

His slim volume covers a range of bodyguard and executive protection skills, including developing the warrior mindset, physical fitness, weapons and equipment selection, shooting skills, combat first aid, and tactical driving. The book is at its best when addressing threat responses, including bomb threats, defending buildings with protectees inside, firing back against ambushes, and protecting VIPs while on the move. An exploration of security qestioning, as opposed to profiling, is useful as well, since the former depends on observation skills—seeing what doesn’t fit. Israeli security personnel are skilled in this process.

Machine also reviews terrorists’ methodologies. This eight-step “marking to getaway” model which includes selecting the target, intelligence gathering, surveillance, planning, arming, rehearsing, execution, and escaping. 

While discussions of tactics, drills, weapons, and warrior skills should apply to all executive protection and bodyguard personnel, the book will be most useful to those on foreign assignments.