The Jerusalem Inception Part 24

"Excellent meeting, right?"

"Yes," he said, though he didn't think so.

"My job is to prevent war. But these sabra hotheads want to use their toys, conquer and pillage like King David. They're children who dream childish dreams!"

"They beat the Arabs before."

"But not the Soviet Union. What chance do we have?" Eshkol formed a circle with his finger and thumb.

"Soviet weapons and a few thousand advisors, but the commanders and soldiers are Arabs, and Rabin seems confident-"

"Yitzhak Rabin is a nice boy." Eshkol made a dismissive gesture. "A schmendrik, that's what he is. I'm not worried about him. He'll follow my orders. My problem is Moshe Dayan. He's a warmonger, strutting around with the fancy eye patch. Who's ever heard of a Jewish pirate?"

Elie touched the scabs over his burns. "My agents are combing his past. I'll let you know as soon as we find something useful."

Chapter 30.

For several weeks, Tanya seldom left her house. She spent day and night listening to UN communications. The European and Indian officers spoke primarily English in varying accents. She was especially attuned to any mention of the UN radar at Government House. Formerly the seat of the British High Commissionaire, in 1948 Government House had become the UN Middle East headquarters. It occupied a high ridge that controlled the southern approaches to Jerusalem as well as the road to Bethlehem and Hebron. It was the highest vantage point in the region, and her equipment tapped into its wireless radio channels and its physical phone lines. Finally, on a morning that brought blooming scents of early spring through her window, Tanya heard a revealing conversation. She wrote down the exchange, switched the equipment to automatic recording, and left the house.

At the IDF command in West Jerusalem, she was taken straight into the office of Brigadier General Tappuzi, military commander of the city.

He looked up. "Good or bad?"

"They'll open the gates to Jordanian troops as soon as war begins, no matter who started it."

"And the radar?"

"Goes with the territory."

"d.a.m.n!"

"There's more," she said. "Bull allowed them to bring anti-aircraft batteries up to the ridge, just outside the UN compound."

Tappuzi called a group of officers into the room. They congregated around a map. It quickly became clear that only a ma.s.sive Israeli air strike at the outset of war could prevent the Jordanian artillery from turning Jewish West Jerusalem into a deathtrap. But with the UN radar and Jordanian anti-aircraft guns working in sync, IDF aerial activities anywhere near Jerusalem would be suicidal.

Tappuzi accompanied Tanya outside. "We have to destroy that radar."

"You want to attack the UN Mideast Headquarter?"

"What choice do we have?"

"The diplomatic consequences would be catastrophic."

"Not as catastrophic as Jordanian carpet bombing of West Jerusalem!"

"A lot worse," Tanya said. "Attacking the UN will make us an international pariah. We'll lose any support, any chance for armaments or parts for our jets and tanks. The world will install a complete embargo on Israel-no flights, no shipping, no imports of food and oil-"

"Okay. Okay." He raised his hands. "I got it. No attack on Government House. Fine. But you must find another solution for that radar. I won't sit still and wait for Jordan to ma.s.sacre our people!"

The unusually hot spring day made Elie sweat under the beggar's cloak. The burns on his cheek and neck had almost healed, the scabs dry and peeling off. But the new skin was still red and tender against the rough cloth.

A book landed in his lap. He glanced up and saw Abraham enter the public urinal. The door let out a whiff of stench.

Elie opened The Zohar and leaned over it so that his cloak sheltered it from the eyes of men entering and leaving the foul place. There was no note inside the book. He stuck an envelope between the pages. It contained cash and a note describing the planned recruitment of ultra-Orthodox residents of Jerusalem, including Neturay Karta, to dig trenches in the streets. Abraham was to enlist his own men, as well as convince other rabbis to have their followers join the life-saving effort. The new Office of Civil Defense, which Elie had set up at the IDF command in West Jerusalem, would hand out shovels and city maps showing them where to dig.

Abraham exited the restroom, but rather than pick up the book from Elie's lap, he walked away. Elie got up and followed him at a distance. Exiting through the long pa.s.sage onto King George Street, they merged with the midday pedestrian traffic. Farther down the street, Abraham entered an old building. Elie did the same.

The unlit landing was barely enough for them to stand, facing one another beside a rusted stairway railing, which served as an anchor for a dusty bicycle, chained together.

"I decided to quit," Abraham said. "Immediately. I'm done!"

Elie pulled out a pack of Lucky Strike and tore off the cellophane wrapping. This development was not completely unexpected. Abraham's rebelliousness had occasionally reared its head over the years, requiring careful manipulation by pressing the correct b.u.t.tons of grief and guilt, grandiosity and gullibility, which still dominated this powerful-yet-vulnerable man. "What about your fiery disciples?"

"Neturay Karta won't cause any trouble. I've ruled that they must study and pray to make the world better, never attack another Jew. My work is done."

"Until the next instigation causes them to riot? To throw rocks at innocent people?"

"That's your problem. I'm quitting."

"You can't quit. You're a spy. A mole. A non-believer among the believers. It'll take years to find someone like you."

"I don't have years. My wife will wither and die before summer."

"Now isn't the time for faintheartedness." He pointed with his cigarette at the book. "Look inside."

Abraham took out the note and read it by the light from the entrance, where pedestrian traffic kept flowing by. "You think a few trenches will protect us from the Jordanian cannons?"

"A few? We'll dig up every street and save thousands of lives." Elie waited a moment to let the image sink in. "Don't shirk your duty. Israel needs you. Your people need you."

Stuffing the envelope inside his coat pocket, Abraham looked down at Elie. "My wife cannot live without our son, and our son cannot live among Neturay Karta. And I cannot let her suffer like this. She's a good woman."

"Didn't you tell me that you wanted to leave her for Tanya?"

He didn't answer.

"You're a secret agent in a crucial post. You made a commitment!"

"Twenty years ago, after you made me believe that Tanya was dead."

"I told you what I found in the forest. It was true. You drew the conclusion."

"Enough with the lies! I had nothing to live for in 1945, so I agreed to dedicate my life to this job. But I cannot sacrifice my wife's life. It's not mine to sacrifice. And my son should not be an orphan while his parents are alive. He hasn't replied to Temimah's letters. It's up to me to fix the situation. I'm a father and a husband-that's my duty now!"

"How n.o.ble." Elie tried to control his anger. "And what about your duty to our nation?"

"Cantor Toiterlich can lead the sect for a few years until Benjamin Mashash, my son's study companion, is ready. Neturay Karta will remain peaceful after I leave, I a.s.sure you."

"You have to wait until after the crisis. Two, maybe three months."

Abraham nodded.

Satisfied, Elie leaned on a bicycle handlebar. A brief delay was all he needed. Soon, Abraham would have no reason to leave Neturay Karta. "We'll have to plan carefully. The departure of Rabbi Abraham Gerster could raise suspicion."

"I'll tell them that G.o.d spoke to me, told me to go and live among the sinners in order to bring them back to His grace. Then I'll find a tolerant community, where Lemmy can live with us while pursuing his own aspirations-religious or not." He paused. "Do you know where he's serving?"

"Not a clue." Elie raised a hand as if taking an oath. "Tanya made me swear to stay away from your son."

"He must be very angry with me. It was a terrible spectacle."

"I heard he shot down the chandelier."

"He didn't mean to. The bullet hit the hook, broke it off the ceiling. A fluke." Abraham chuckled sadly. "Our very own Kristallnacht."

Chapter 31.

After several months of intense training, the time came for the first of three dives, which were required to earn the paratrooper pin. Lemmy's company hiked all night, arriving with first light at an air force base somewhere in the Negev Desert. They spent the day cleaning their weapons, arranging their gear, and memorizing topographical maps.

As the sun was setting, they strapped on the parachutes and boarded the plane, whose tail was marked with a blue Star of David. It accelerated down the runway, and the two engines snarled as the plane detached from the ground and gained alt.i.tude, heading west into the sunset.

The soldiers sat on metal benches along the fuselage, their Uzis loaded and secure, their pouches stuffed with ammunition, and their parachutes strapped on snugly. Lemmy sat sideways and peered out through the small window. Sunsets reminded him of Fridays in Meah Shearim. A white tablecloth. Burning candles. What do you know tonight that you didn't know this morning?

But now Benjamin alone was there to answer the questions at the Sabbath table, to debate the subtleties of Talmud between dishes, and to recite the blessing after the meal. Life in Neturay Karta had continued to exist, a parallel universe of worship and study, of Sabbath meals and strict observance of myriad rules. But Lemmy was no longer part of it. For them, he was dead.

His eyes caught a herd of mountain goats, like white shadows in the twilight, fleeing into a ravine, frightened by the roar of the plane. He tried not to think of the initial drop and freefall, the immense height, and the speed at which he would hit the ground should his parachute fail to open. Instead he thought of the navigation challenges that awaited him once he was safely on the ground.

Their training had been put on a tight schedule in order to prepare them for a fighting role. The consecutive drills left little time for sleep and even less time for reflection. Like his fellow soldiers, Lemmy lived out of a military duffel bag that contained everything he owned-his uniform, folded and pressed, his only set of civilian clothes, and Uri Zvi Greenberg's Book of Denunciation and Faith. His proudest possession was a wooden box containing his father's Mauser. He also had a black yarmulke, which he hadn't put on since leaving Meah Shearim.

His friends knew he came from an ultra-Orthodox family that had banished him, but they never pried into his past. With endless grueling exercises across the Negev Desert, soldiers judged each other on integrity and teamwork. The outside world of family, money, or education was irrelevant, and Lemmy had won their trust.

"Get ready!" Captain Zigelnick's stocky figure appeared in the glow from the c.o.c.kpit.

The red light above the door came on. Two minutes to destination.

Lemmy was first in line. He clipped the automatic-release strap to the metal wire that ran along the ceiling. If the canopy failed to open, he would use the emergency strap for manual opening in midair.

Captain Zigelnick walked down the aisle between the two opposite rows of soldiers, his hand moving along the metal wire, verifying that everyone's release strap was properly attached. The inside of the plane was dark. The soldiers were quiet, their faces tense. It would be their first time leaping from a speeding plane, followed by a night of solitary navigation through the desert.

When he reached Lemmy, the captain patted his shoulder. "Nervous, Gerster?"

"No," he lied, reaching up to unclip the strap from the wire. "I don't need this."

The light above the door made the captain's face red, adding mischief to his grin. "Count to three, then pull the strap."

"Yes, sir!"

A minute later, the red light turned yellow. When the light turned green, they would jump in twenty-second intervals, which meant a half a mile between each soldier. After landing, he would be on his own. They had memorized individual routes through dry streams and over rocky hills. Like a nighttime treasure hunt, each soldier had to find and jot down codes painted on rocks at various destination points and reach the gathering spot by dawn.

Lemmy shut his eyes and imagined the topographic map he had memorized. He recalled the desert paths that served deer in search of water, the wadis-dry streams-that were always at risk of flash floods, the sharp-edged palisades that spiked along the rolling dunes. For a good navigator, the maps gave rich information in shades of brown and green that told of the forms taken by the earth. Lemmy's Talmudic mind, trained to digest complex facts and weigh conflicting scenarios, found it easy to interpret the map, visualize the three-dimensional landscape, and memorize the details of his route. The rest depended on his stamina.

The green light went on. Zigelnick pushed open the door, and wind whirled into the plane. Lemmy shut his eyes, leapt into the darkness, and immediately regretted it. The wind grabbed his body and tossed him like a piece of paper. A moment later his fall stabilized somewhat as the colossal magnet of the earth pulled him downward with relentless force. The acceleration screamed in his ears. The pressure grew in his chest as his guts rose to his throat. He searched blindly for the release strap, his mind intoxicated by the thrill of free fall. A voice inside his head counted, Twenty-one. Twenty-two. Twenty-three. Twenty-four.

He reached farther down for the strap.

His hand grabbed empty air.

Grabbed again.

Nothing!

Elie Weiss examined the photograph closely. The woman was smiling. A lock of light hair dropped nonchalantly across her forehead. Moshe Dayan, in uniform, stood behind her, his hands on her hips. They were looking up, possibly at a bird or a plane. Behind them was Dayan's staff car and in the background, a sandy beach and a cl.u.s.ter of buildings. The date on the back of the photo placed it about a year before Dayan retired from the IDF.

"Bella Leibowitz," Agent Yosh said. "Her husband was Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel Leibowitz. He was found dead in their apartment, his service Uzi set on automatic. The place was quite a mess. She discovered the body and called Dayan, who was then chief of staff. He sent army medics to clean up. It was ruled an accident, but there were rumors."

Elie touched the photo. "Did he leave a note?"

"None was found."

"She probably destroyed it." Having run out of cigarettes, Elie took one from his agent's pack-Royal, a filter brand. He lit it and, taking a draw, twisted his face in disgust. "Any evidence? Letters? Witnesses?"

The agent examined his notes. "Her neighbor said Dayan had visited her whenever the husband was away. Dayan stayed for an hour or two while his driver waited in the car. It went on for a few months but ended when the husband died. His mother made a scene at the funeral, but it was all hushed up."

"We need more evidence," Elie said.

The other agent, Dor, pointed to a photo of Dayan holding a ceramic object.

"What's this?" Elie looked closely. "A cow?"

"A wine jar shaped like a bull." Dor pointed to the eyes and ears. "Wine pours out of the mouth. It's at least three thousand years old. Biblical." He took out another photo, showing an outdoor collection of antique jars, tapestries, small fountains, and tools. "Dayan's backyard garden. It's full of these. Worth millions."

"So?"

"Ancient artifacts must be handed over to the Antiques Authority." Dor pulled another photo, showing General Dayan standing near a gaping hole in a hillside with a group of young soldiers holding shovels. "And Dayan regularly used military personnel and vehicles on his private digging expeditions."