This chapter examines what the Church Committee investigations can elucidate about the conditions under which the United States chose to pursue state-sponsored assassinations during the early Cold War. The chapter examines the Church Committee report on assassinations to determine which factors were most important in escalating U.S. foreign policy toward assassination. It considers factors including the danger of Communist spillover to nearby states, availability of intelligence assets in the target country, availability of friendly replacement if the targeted leader is extinguished, and strength of domestic opposition groups. The chapter then engages in process tracing of two incidents in which the United States implemented an assassination operation against a foreign leader: the killing of Patrice Lumumba, Prime Minister of Congo, in 1961, and the AMLASH operation against the Cuban leader Fidel Castro. To construct these case studies, I examine the Church Committee reports, testimonies, and attached documents, other declassified primary documents, and secondary histories and memoirs. Rather than attempt to determine conditions of success for assassination plots, this chapter reveals when the U.S. was likely to engage in this extreme covert activity, directly or enabling domestic groups. I then apply my historical findings to the Global War on Terror and the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani during the Trump administration. I find that in light of the tightening restrictions on extrajudicial killing, anti-Communist motivations give way to the importance of plausible legality in planning modern assassinations.

Israel’s approach to covert action is framed by its history and geography, resulting in covert actions that emphasize deterrence through implausible deniability. Israel’s covert action capability is unique in several ways: First, Israel prioritized immigration, in which clandestine assistance was provided for Jewish refugees who sought to immigrate to Israel. Second, cooperation within the Israeli intelligence community focuses on countering Arab terrorism. Israel also works to deny and disrupt technological development, particularly nuclear proliferation, of its adversaries. Most controversially, “targeted killing” and assassination have been a longstanding practice of Israeli covert action. Israel’s reliance on assassination derives from its need to use its resources as a small state strategically and respond to the fears of Israel’s leaders and citizens that is constantly under threat of annihilation. Perpetuation of the “Mossad Myth” is used to enhance deterrence while minimizing the escalation and retaliation risk from Israel’s adversaries.